Revive, Reboot, Return
by CaptainPiika
Summary: Kyle leads an atypical life for a wild Monferno - relationships and family drama aside, he's also busy with his self-appointed job as a Pokémon rights activist. He really doesn't have time for weird, lucid dreams in which his brother is the ruler of a random desert, but it would seem that some higher power has other plans. Sequel to File Not Found.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is a sequel to my previous story, File Not Found. If you have not read File Not Found, this story will not make any sense. Almost all the characters are my original characters, many of whom are introduced in FNF, and this story expects you to be familiar with them. If you want to enjoy this story to the fullest, I strongly recommend reading File Not Found first._ _I should also mention that this story takes place in a universe that draws from multiple canons, including the anime, the main series games, and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 canon._

 _I originally started this story in early 2013, but didn't post it for a few reasons. Recently, though, I've changed my mind, and that's why I'm posting now! I currently have everything up to chapter 24 written, so I'll be posting my backlog of chapters on a regular basis until I run out, after which updates will be irregular. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Warm, yellow, sun baked bricks made up most of the perimeter of the tiny cell. Rays of light shined through the slit of a window, casting a rather lovely golden glow onto the dust that piled itself in the corner. The room was comforting, in an odd way, even if it wasn't a good idea for him to constantly sit in the heat. But he had to like it, because he was stuck there, no matter what anybody else said.

He sat with his knees up and his arms draped over them, his back against the wall. The stuffy, heated air had gotten to him, making his eyes droopy and his tail flicks lazy. If he was lucky, he'd fall asleep soon, and he'd only have to deal with the room for a couple of hours. He hadn't been that lucky lately, though.

His prison guard, a Torterra, stopped in front of his cell. "Hey, you. You want something to eat today?" she asked with a smile.

He let out a long breath, looking up to see her face. It was perfect and unmarred, which wasn't right, but it was still her, and he appreciated that. "No."

She rolled her eyes and sat down. "I really don't know how you're still alive."

He frowned. "Because this isn't real."

"It sure feels real to me, kiddo." She beamed at him. "I'm one of the real ones, remember?"

Well, of course he remembered. She was everything. "You're not the Kari I know."

"And I've never known a Kyle before you," she replied. "But I'm still walking and talking, so I must be some kind of tangible, right?"

Maybe. Or maybe not. Maybe he needed to see a therapist after all.

"So, what's new in your other life?" the other Kari asked, her voice bright.

"Mr. Evil Overlord is bringing his adopted kid over for a birthday party today," Kyle said, brushing away his hair. "So I'm going to get a lot of idiots telling me I look exactly like my 'nephew'. Including you."

"His name is not 'Overlord'," Kari said, frowning.

"Right, his name's Kevin," Kyle said.

Kari shook her head. "He's not that bad. If it weren't for him—"

"If it weren't for him you wouldn't be part of this fantasy land, but that doesn't matter, does it? You don't care so long as you get to spend time with him."

Kari flushed. In a way, it was just like the real world.

"Right. I think I'm going to try and go to sleep again, if you don't mind." Kyle yawned.

Kari sighed, still red. "Fine. I'll come by again tomorrow."

"I know. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

He felt the switch and groaned.

Kyle really hated how gravity would flip around whenever he came back to reality. It wouldn't be as much of a problem if he fell asleep the same way every time, he knew, but in the cell, there wasn't really enough room to lie down comfortably. He supposed that was a disadvantage of sleeping on his back.

He opened his eyes. He was back to normal, with his gray pullover sweater and his scars. The room was dark, save for the light from his tail. Stella was nowhere to be seen.

So… four in the morning?

Kyle felt around on his side table (also known as a moderately flat rock) for the crappy department store watch he bought. Bringing his tail close to illuminate it, he groaned again.

Three twenty-seven. He'd barely slept for two hours.

He flopped back down. He really should have slept some more, but having eight hour long dreams about being in the hottest jail cell on Earth was not his idea of a good time, even if they did include amicable conversations with an amicable Kari. Assuming they were dreams, anyway. He still wasn't sure what to call them. Alternate realities? Drug trips?

Whatever they were, they were unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. If he didn't know better, he'd say he actually did live two separate lives – one as the leader of the Shades, and another as a prisoner with a mental problem. But Kyle knew better.

He got up, reeling with exhaustion (he'd probably slept a total of ten hours all week), and stumbled his way out of his room and into the main part of the cave. Normally, he'd be alone in his early morning wanderings, but today…

"You're still up? I thought you went to bed." Ero said, smirking from across the counter. He was a Stark Mountain Monferno, gray eyed and tall, contrasting Kyle's dark eyes and shorter stature.

Kyle let out an amused breath. "Yeah, I did. Good morning."

"One of those days, huh?"

"Yep."

He didn't know what he'd do without Ero.

True, Ero wasn't the most useful member of the Shades. That honour went to the lovely Estelle Glacée, who basically did every organizational thing a rights group ever needed. Ero was a hard worker, though, and filled a vacancy that was sorely missing for a good couple of years. Kyle really needed a Wild Community Consultant-slash-Editor, as much as he hated to admit it, and it wasn't like he could release Chuno and give him his old job back.

So he'd mentioned a job opening and sifted through a bunch of unworthy applicants (some trained, some children, some human), and he came up with Ero, a soft-spoken nervous type whose confidence had skyrocketed once Kyle mentioned that he was the first worthy candidate he'd seen all week. Kyle hired him, and since then Ero had become a very good friend. It was a little easier to talk to someone who wasn't flirting with him every ten minutes, anyway. He really appreciated that.

"Let me guess," Ero said, tapping a pencil on his chin. "You got into an argument with Dream-Kari again?"

"It wasn't an argument," Kyle muttered. "It was more of an 'I've already talked to you about this' kind of thing."

Ero turned his attention back to the speech he was writing. "Oh yeah? What did she say?"

"She's real, it's weird that I never eat, and she's totally crushing on Overlord. I don't know what this is supposed to be telling me psychologically, but I'm getting kind of sick of it." Kyle made his way over to the counter Ero was at and sat across from him, collapsing onto a creaky stool.

"Hmm," Ero crossed out a sentence.

"Hmm?" Kyle repeated.

"Maybe your conscience is telling you to move on, or something? The jail cell could be a metaphor for how you've trapped yourself with this obsession over one girl, and by letting go, you'll set yourself free?"

Kyle blinked. "We've been over this."

"I know. But you've never actually tried moving on." Another sentence crossed out.

"Yes I have."

"No you haven't. That one time doesn't count, that was because you were mad at her."

"We spent years in a lab together."

"So what, you owe her or something?"

Kyle glared. "I'm not having this conversation again."

"Fine," Ero said, striking out the entire speech, "we'll talk about something else. What's happening for your nephew's birthday tomorrow? Or, well, today, I guess."

"Uh, I don't know, a party for the adults? It's not like the kid has that many friends his age. Although, I think Kevin might have planned something else." Kyle frowned. "And he's not my nephew."

"Right, he's like your second cousin three times removed or whatever," Ero said, grinning. "You southerners and your tiny gene pools."

"Like your entire upper-class doesn't look the same," Kyle muttered.

"He does look a lot like you, though. You sure he's adopted?" Ero said.

 _Of course_. "Yes. If Overlord's kids are anything to go by, Kevin's not going to have dark eyed children. Who has a kid at fourteen, anyway?"

Ero laughed. "Oh yeah, because your dream niece and nephew are totally viable evidence. And you'd be surprised at how young parents are getting, especially on the mountain."

Kyle leaned his face on his arm. "Whatever. If I can live through today without passing out, I'll be happy."

"I'm sure," Ero said, standing up. "I'm going to bed, though. See you later."

"Mmph," Kyle replied, slumping. It was going to be a long, long morning.

* * *

The party actually managed to sneak up on him. He didn't get any sleep during the morning, but he had managed to rest a bit while reading a book on lucid dreaming (which seemed to be pretty accurate to what he was experiencing, save for the fact that he couldn't really control anything in the dreams at all). It was only when Stella called him that he realized his family had arrived.

…Well, extended family, anyway. It was going to be hard to cram everybody in one room of his modest cavern. His brother and mother were there, but so were Chikoro and the birthday boy himself, Little. He tried to smile.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hi!" Little chirped back. He was a tiny Chimchar with huge brown eyes. Today was his seventh birthday. "Thanks for letting us come over!"

Kyle couldn't blink. "Uh, right. No problem."

"No problem?" Kevin asked, laughing. His eerie, human-blue eyes lit up. "It must have taken something like six hours on the phone to convince you, Ky!"

"Would've been more if you weren't so concerned about your phone bills," Chikoro sneered, his voice still as high pitched as ever, even though he was almost seventeen.

"Wow, you pay those?" Little asked, grinning. "Grandma just gets some human guy to do it."

Kyle's mother sighed. "That's Bill, sweetie, remember?"

Kyle heaved a huge breath. "Let's all just go outside, okay? There's more room out there."

To his pleasure, everybody made their way out of his headquarters without a fuss. Stella and the real Kari soon joined them outdoors as well, and then, the party was on. That is, if they could even call it a party. It was more of a reunion for Kevin and Kari. There were zero decorations, nor a birthday cake, not that that was unusual for non-humans. As soon as they saw each other they burst into conversation, laughing, smiling, and brightening everyone's mood. That was, everyone's except Kyle's. He knew, he was bitter and angsty and couldn't move on, but knowing that he had a problem didn't do anything to fix it. It just made him feel worse.

So of course, Little chose that moment to talk to him.

"Hey!"

Kyle groaned. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say that you're really cool," Little said, smiling wide. "Uncle Kevin said that when you guys were little, you couldn't go and buy ice cream and stuff, but now you can because the humans listened to you."

Ice cream. Really. "Well, it wasn't just me. Without Professor Holly, you wouldn't be able to speak human, either."

"Oh, you mean your dad?"

Kyle cringed. "Mm. That's right. Don't go shouting it for everyone to hear."

Little nodded, and looked away. "You're lucky. I wish I had a cool dad like that."

It took everything Kyle had in him to stand still and not make a sound.

"Oh, hey, she's here! Sorry, I've gotta go talk to my friend now. Bye, Mr. Shade!" And Little scampered off on all fours to meet a Pikachu peeking her head out from behind some trees in the distance.

Kyle breathed and leaned against the side of the cave. He hated talking to Little. Not because Little was annoying or anything like that, he was actually quite sweet. He just tended to get sick to his stomach every time the seven-year-old talked to him.

The small build. The huge, dark eyes. The way he walked and talked and did everything else. Kyle saw so much of himself in him that he was really starting to wonder if there was something more to it. Even though there couldn't possibly be! At all!

But there could, couldn't there?

He would have to speak up at some point. Ero knew about the situation, and others probably had a good idea of it. He'd talked about it a little before. All he needed to do was do it again.

With Kari, because she was practically Little's mother, and she'd be the best one for him to tell.

With Kari.

…Well, he would have to practice first.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's midnight! Go to bed!"

"For me, it's the afternoon, and I need to talk to you, so stay awake!"

Scarless-Kari rolled her eyes and sat down in front of his cell once again.

"Good," Kyle said, his hands clasped around the metal bars that caged him. He knew he could melt them, but the amount of guards who looked like they knew Earthquake crushed all hopes of escaping properly. Besides, he knew how bad his escape plans were. "I need your advice on how to talk to you."

Kari laughed. "Trying to win me back again, are you?"

"No— Er, well, that'd be great, but…" Something about her tone made him flustered. "It's more of a… How do I put this? Um, like, a piece of possibly-true information that could change the way you look at me forever, I guess…"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Look, right now, it's all just speculation on my part. I only know what I know, and I know that I don't know the whole picture." He felt his face go red, and for the first time in a long time he felt like he was twelve years old all over again.

"Um…" Kari looked like she wanted to leave, but she instead just tapped the ground with her foot, sending light rumbles through the stone floor. "Okay. That doesn't tell me much—"

"Obviously!"

"—But whatever it is, you're clearly ashamed of it. Are you worried I'll laugh at you or something?" She gave him a horribly pitiful look, and Kyle was struck with a sudden sense of guilt that he'd made her feel that way, again.

"No! It's not a laughing matter," Kyle said. He took a large breath, willing himself to cool down a few degrees as he exhaled. "I'm just… _worried_ … I think that if I tell you, I might lose you for good, you know?"

"Implying that you still have a chance with the other me, anyway," Kari muttered.

Kyle frowned, his expression hard. "Yes, implying exactly that. You know how I feel."

The turtle raised her eyes to the ceiling, deep in thought. Kyle watched her, unwavering. After several seconds, she brought her gaze back down to him, her face stern.

"If you feel that way, then you should know that I don't appreciate people hiding things from me. If you don't tell me what it is, I _will_ find out. And, chances are, if you think I'll hate you if you tell me about this thing… Well, imagine how much I'd hate you if I found out you were lying to me about it."

He had expected her to say something along those lines, but that didn't make it any easier. He swallowed, closing his eyes.

"All right. I'll tell y—her. I'll tell her today."

Kari smiled. "So you're leaving me in the dark, after all that? How harsh."

Kyle felt himself flush again. "I appreciate your help, but I'd rather take some time to figure out how I'm going to say it before I start telling the people in my dreams."

"I can't wait," she said, grinning. "Now, b—

* * *

"Late night?" a voice purred.

He woke up to find Stella curled up in his lap, rubbing her head under his chin. He blinked.

"I… I needed a nap," he said once his brain finished processing the switch. He sat up, wishing he'd had a bedroom door to lock. "Sorry. I thought I'd disappear for a few minutes."

"Well, you did," Stella fussed over his sweater, smoothing out some wrinkles. "Normally, I'd let you do that, but we kind of need you awake right now."

"Why's that?" Kyle asked. He started to run his fingers absentmindedly down her back.

She grinned, evening his sweater strings. "We're seeing a special battle tournament at the Battle Tower as part of Little's birthday! Your brother mentioned it, and I called them up, and I was able to get a bunch of tickets for it, and we're just about to go."

"And I have to go because…?" Kyle said, scratching behind Stella's ear. He'd never made it a secret that he disliked competitive battling. Why Stella would ever get him a ticket to a tournament was beyond him.

"Oh! Well, I kind of used your name to get the tickets," Stella said sheepishly, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. "I mean, it was pretty last minute, and the ticket sales were supposed to be closed, but once I mentioned that they were for you…"

Ah, fame. "I need to be there for identification. I've got it, okay," Kyle said, stretching his arms out.

"I'm so sorry, Boss, if I'd known you were tired, I wouldn't have… Oh, but Little's so cute, and it's his birthday, and I thought that this would be a great present from the Shades—"

"It's fine, Stell," Kyle said, shutting her mouth closed. "I'll go."

He felt her smile widely behind his fingers, and before he could say anything more, she had bounded away, calling everyone to get ready to leave. Kyle spent a few moments groaning and rubbing the fatigue from his eyes before standing up, stretching again, and making his way out of his room.

He liked Stella, he really did, but he'd never been able to attach himself to her the same way she did to him. Admittedly, he tended to go easy on her, letting her get away with things that nobody else could, and as a result he appeared closer to her than he really was, petting her and letting her fall asleep beside him more times than he could count. That was what he told everyone, anyway.

The truth was, he hard a hard time figuring out how he really felt when he was dealing with anyone but Kari. Stella was very open and kind to him and he tried to be the same way with her, minus the flirting every five seconds. He thought that by now, he had gotten through to her and she knew that he wasn't interested, but whether it was her personality or hopeless denial, that didn't stop her from trying.

He wondered, idly, whether sharing his theories with Stella would be a better alternative to talking with Kari, but he waved it away. Even if she understood what he thought had happened, she'd still be terribly hurt, and Kyle didn't trust her to keep something like that to herself. After all, she'd already blabbed his secrets once…

No, not secrets, theories. There was no proof that he was right. It was just a guess.

The large group consisting of everyone but Kari (she was too big for a seat) made their way to the eponymous Battle Frontier, which had long since eclipsed the identity of the island Kyle called home. Supposedly, trainers from all over the world showed up to battle here, although Kyle had never really been interested in why it was so popular. He'd been there quite a few times, sure, but that was because it was the best place in Sinnoh to give a speech on Pokémon rights, what with the large stage in the center often reserved for concerts and other shows, and the ever-changing crowd providing him a unique viewership each time.

He knew the Frontier had five main attractions, each with their own set of rules, which surprised him. He knew about single battles and double battles, but the idea of so many different standards seemed overly complicated. Didn't trainers ever mix up all the battling styles?

"The tournament's at the tower," Kevin said, his blue eyes flashing around the park. No doubt that he was one of the nuts who knew every rule by heart. "It's actually based on the Battle Dome's rules back home, if I remember correctly."

"So why can't you see the tournament back in Hoenn?" Kyle asked, his voice flat.

Kevin laughed. "Because we live on the west coast, maybe? It takes a daylong ferry trip to get to the Hoenn Battle Frontier from Lilycove, and the Pidgeot Express won't fly there, I've checked."

"You took the time to travel all the way here, though," Kyle pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but that didn't make it enjoyable," Kevin said, grimacing. "I was afraid Little would fall off our pilot, too – I'd rather not have to fish him out of the ocean more often than necessary."

Little pouted. "I fell in _once_!"

Kevin beamed at him. "Crazy, isn't it, a fire type who likes water? Then again, Uncle Nick was like that, too… Kyle? You okay?"

Kyle swallowed his nausea. "I'm fine. Just tired."

He felt Stella nudge up to him and wished, for a fleeting moment, that he liked coffee as much as she did. Anything to keep him awake during the battles to come.

Once they got inside the Battle Tower, Stella weaved the two of them through the crowd to pick up their set of tickets. The burly box office guy peered over the counter at them with distaste before handing them their passes, giving Stella something to rant about for the next two minutes.

"Honestly, people like that… Why do they close ticket sales, anyway? Why would you deny people's money?" She huffed.

Kyle gave her a weak smile. "Because it's a Pokémon's money."

"Pokémon are people t—"

"That was the _joke_ , Stell…"

They found their seats, which weren't excellent or anything, but pretty good considering that Stella had only called about an hour ago. They were split between two rows; Kevin, Little, Chikoro and Ero were in the front-most of the two and Kyle, Stella, and his mother were in the back. Before Kyle could ask why Ero had chosen a seat beside the annoying half-pint who was Chikoro, his friend leaned back, smirking.

"I actually like battling, so this is interesting to me, all right?" Kyle nodded and sat back in his chair, leaning his head on his fist.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Sinnoh Battle Frontier's exclusive, one time only event, the Spring Solstice Knockout Tournament! I'm your host, all the way from Hoenn, I'm Dome Superstar Tucker!"

Kyle raised an eyebrow. The man announcing was wearing a very, very flamboyant outfit that matched his magenta hair, complete with six glittering fairy wings. Ero laughed out loud at his appearance, while Chikoro seemed to blink several times, trying to figure out if he was seeing things right. Stella and his mother giggled quietly. Kyle exchanged glances with Kevin.

"Yeah… He's pretty brave, that guy," Kevin said, patting Little on the back, who didn't seem to understand why everyone was laughing. Kyle shrugged and turned back to the announcer.

"Now, for those unfamiliar with the rules of the Battle Dome, I'll explain. There are sixteen competitors, all of whom have been pre-evaluated by the lovely staff of the Battle Tower. Each competitor is granted with their opponent's evaluation information before each match, allowing them to strategize. Now, to the non-battler, this may seem like a petty inclusion, but I must say, it does add a lot of depth!" The announcer grinned to the crowd before continuing. "Of course, because this is a one-off tournament, we're changing the rules slightly. Each competitor is only allowed one Pokémon, and, though it is quite unfortunate, I'm afraid no one will have the honour of battling yours truly."

Kyle silently thanked the heavens that he wouldn't have to watch the Dome Superstar battle.

"So, without further ado, let us begin!" The crowd cheered, and a door opened, allowing someone who looked like an athlete to jog onstage. "First up, we've got Triathlete Alyssa, from Sunyshore City! She uses a Tentacruel called Flotsam – very nice, very overlooked Pokémon. The staff have ranked her as a trainer with average potential, who likes to use defensive moves. She emphasizes HP and special defense. Give it up for Triathlete Alyssa!"

There was a flurry of applause, and Alyssa sent out her Tentacruel with a blush on her face. The Tentacruel, although not comfortably in a body of water, appeared to be fine for a land-based battle.

"And on the other side—Ooh! How interesting! Roo the Breloom, from Petalburg Woods!" The Dome Superstar flashed a large grin. "Isn't that where the Shade is from?"

At this, the crowd started muttering fervently as the second competitor emerged. He was a well-built grass and fighting type who had a confident smile adorning his youthful face. Kyle took extra care not to catch the eyes of the people sitting around them who knew he was there, instead looking at Kevin.

"Just 'cause he's from Petalburg doesn't make him our friend. In fact, it's more like the opposite. The Shroomish pretended that I didn't exist," Kevin said.

Kyle nodded. "One of them poisoned me, once."

"That boy is too young to be one of your bullies, sweetheart," Kyle's mother said. Her eyebrows creased. Kyle frowned.

"So, Roo here is pretty independent. He says he's been training himself for the last few years! He hopes to one day go on a gym challenge – what an ambition, eh?"

"I did that," Kevin muttered, with the air of someone who came up with a grand new invention only to discover that it had been made already. Kyle expected Chikoro to make up some witty retort to fire back at Kevin, but instead Chikoro was focused intently on the Breloom down below.

"You know, judging someone based on his species is kind of low," Ero said dismissively. Kyle's frown deepened.

"The staff decided that he's one to use startling and disruptive moves, and he emphasizes speed and attack. I don't know about you guys, but I'd say he's definitely the dark horse candidate in this tournament! Ladies and gentlemen, Roo the Breloom!"

Roo grinned widely at the applause, scratching his nose. "Thank you," he said in a scratchy voice that Kyle could only associate with teenagers.

"And now, in true Battle Frontier fashion, competitors, exchange ridiculous sentences!" the announcer yelled.

"SWIMMING LESSONS COST TOO MUCH!" shouted Alyssa, looking thoroughly embarrassed, yet still happy to be there.

"YOU'RE DROOLING, AREN'T YOU?" Roo laughed, readying himself into a battle stance.

"And now… begin!"

It was much more interesting to watch a battle live than on TV. Although Kyle hadn't heard of half of the moves or combinations being used in the fight, he surprised himself by genuinely getting into the outcome of each match. Roo succeeded in the first round by being astonishingly quick-footed (Kyle had to hit Kevin after his brother mentioned the grass type being even faster than him), taking out Flotsam the Tentacruel with a barrage of Seed Bomb attacks and little else. Kevin expressed interest in the Breloom's attack power, saying that it was impressive for him to get a two hit knockout with a Barrier up (whatever that meant). Chikoro stayed unnaturally silent throughout Roo's next two matches, yet kept his eyes on the field. Kyle assumed he was attempting to absorb every move Roo made.

The tournament moved on relatively quickly, and before long they were at the final match: Roo versus Ace Trainer Henry. Kevin apparently recognized the lanky teenager with messy hair, calling him "totally rude" and "OU to the core". Kyle thought with amusement that Kevin was hardly in a position to call anyone else rude, but then Chikoro finally broke his silence.

"Yanmega. He's not going to have a good time facing that," Chikoro said, flipping his leaf away from his eyes.

"Ugh, you're right, look at his face," Kevin said. Sure enough, Roo was grimacing. "Yanmega is Borderline, though, now that I think about it…"

"That's only because of Stealth Rock. In one on one fights, Yanmega's deadly," Chikoro said, glaring. "Fast, too. I wonder if they'll speed tie."

"Even if he wins the tie, he's not going to do much," Kevin said. "Fighting and grass moves aren't going to do a thing against a Yanmega."

Roo shook his head down below, a grim smile on his face. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this."

Henry shrugged. "No one Pokémon can win them all."

"No, I guess not," Roo said, "but he sure can try."

The match started, and the Yanmega zoomed forward, ready to shoot an Air Slash and end the fight in a single hit. Roo was quick, however, and managed to duck just in time, running underneath the Yanmega in a few short steps.

Suddenly, the two battling Pokémon were engulfed in a fine, green powder, shielding them from view. Kevin gave a knowing cry, and Chikoro made a low whistle.

"Spore, that's a nice move!" Kevin said.

"He must have trained for ages to use that," Chikoro murmured, deeply impressed.

Kyle didn't understand until he saw the heavy dragonfly Pokémon crash to the ground, asleep. Right, sleep was a very good thing to inflict on an opponent during battle, since it left them completely defenseless (though still not legally fainted – knockouts and sleep were two different things). Though, if Roo still didn't have very effective moves to attack with, Kyle doubted he'd win before the Yanmega woke up.

"Right, bear with me for a second, I haven't quite got the hang of this, yet," Roo said, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes in concentration, and Kyle watched sharp rocks suddenly materialize out of thin air.

"Stone Edge!" Little exclaimed, standing up in his seat to get a better look. "He can do Stone Edge!"

"That'll end it, no question!" Chikoro said, craning his neck in anticipation.

But despite the collective gasp from the excited crowd, Roo's rock type attack faltered mid-flight, crashing into the ground three feet away from its intended target. "Whoops," Roo said, grinning, as he summoned another set of stones. This time, he made a clean hit, and the referee declared Yanmega unfit for battle. The crowd roared as the announcer declared Roo the winner of the tournament, leaving a very disgruntled Henry to return his Yanmega and stalk off.

"Well, they don't call it 'Stone Miss' for nothing," Ero laughed, and Chikoro and Kevin nodded in agreement.

* * *

"I don't know why you guys have such a problem with him. Honestly, I think he'd be prime material for the Shades!" Stella said, gazing up at Kyle hopefully.

Kyle shrugged. "I don't need another arrogant child on my side, I've got those two for that," he said, pointing at Kevin and Chikoro, who were currently leading the group through a sketchy path in between rooms. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I'm just… I'm following…" Chikoro said, making a sharp turn at a corner.

Kyle was about to ask why everyone had to come along on Chikoro's little escapade when he found himself ushered out into the evening sunlight. Kevin closed the small side door they exited the tower from and smirked.

"Ah, I thought it'd be something like this."

Kyle looked around and saw Roo sitting at a picnic table, chewing an oran berry. His eyes widened before he gave them a large smile.

"Oh, hi! The Shades! Did you watch my match?"

Chikoro marched right up to him, glaring. "Specs, now," he said.

"Actually, I use a choice scarf," Roo laughed, parting some of the plant growth around his neck to reveal a patterned, blue piece of silk. "But, uh, I'm proud of my power, and apparently I've got a really nice attack gene. Jolly nature, too, so that's nice."

"If you're jolly, then you shouldn't need a scarf," Chikoro said.

Roo cringed. "I know, I know… but I've got Effect Spore, not Poison Heal. Using a toxic orb instead would be suicidal. It sucks, everything else is pretty much perfect—uh, not to brag, or anything, but you know, it's hard to find someone better suited for battling than me. I guess it saved me in the end, though. That sleep status? Totally from Effect Spore, I bumped my head when I ran under that Yanmega! I do know Spore, though."

Chikoro nodded, his attention rapt. Kyle folded his arms. Jolly nature, huh? At least that explained why this guy was so happy all the time. Roo finished his oran berry with a gulp, then turned his attention to Kevin.

"Hey, you're Slickky, right?" Roo said brightly.

Kevin frowned. "Yeah, that's right."

"That's so cool! You know, when I was a kid, I saw you on TV. It's thanks to you that I'm here now." Roo said.

"Really?" Kevin said, blinking.

"Yeah, I watched your league match, and they said you went all over Sinnoh collecting badges? Without a trainer, I mean, that's really impressive. It was horrible that they disqualified you, though, that other guy was totally goading you to attack him. I mean, you shouldn't have let it get to you, but he was saying some pretty nasty stuff, so…" Roo trailed off.

Chikoro was whipping his head back and forth between them, a murderous glint in his eyes. Kevin noticed and shrugged.

"Well, I was fourteen, then. I'm older and wiser, now," Kevin flicked his tail. "Anyway, congratulations on your win, you battled very we—"

"ROO!" someone screamed.

"Isabelle, hi!" Roo grinned as a Bellossom bolted up to him and leapt into his arms. The tiny grass type grabbed the larger one's face and pulled him into a very pronounced and passionate kiss. Kyle looked away to give them some privacy and caught Ero with a hand over his mouth, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Uh, sorry," Roo said, breathing as he broke the kiss, "if you wouldn't mind, you guys, I'd like to spend some time with my girlfriend."

Blank faced and pallid, Chikoro led the group once again, this time back to Kyle's cave. Everyone was relatively quiet, at least, from Kyle's perspective. Chikoro and Ero were whispering a hushed conversation and he was pretty sure that Stella and his mother were discussing how cute Roo was. In trying to ignore them, he found himself watching Little, skipping around absentmindedly through the grass.

The tiny Chimchar really did look a lot like him, he thought, but all of that was just the upper class genes, it had to be. But the way everything lined up, it was still possible, definitely. He'd promised to tell Kari today, but that seemed silly, now that he thought about it. What did she have to do with any of this? It wasn't like she was related…

"Little," he said quietly, his eyes glued on the boy, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

Little looked up with a blank stare. "Okay."

He pulled Little a few feet away from the rest of the group, allowing Little to scamper up his back and ride on his left shoulder. Kyle remembered for a brief moment that he loved to do the same thing as a child.

"All right. I'm going to tell you something, and it might sound pretty weird, but it's a secret, okay? You can't tell anyone else." Kyle said, reaching up to scratch Little behind the ears.

Little giggled. "Yeah, okay," he said, grinning.

"Right. Okay," Kyle's nerves appeared out of nowhere, forbidding him to speak, but he had to, he'd promised he would, and he'd been keeping it in for the past seven years already…

"Little," he said, sternly. "Little, I think I'm your father."


	3. Chapter 3

"What did you just say?"

It was Kevin who grabbed him by the other shoulder and turned him around, violently. Kyle startled, unable to say anything.

"Did I hear that right? Did you seriously just say what I think you did?"

Kyle had never seen his older brother look so vicious in his life. Normally Kevin had a happy, clear version of their father's face, one that rarely ever went beyond annoyed, but Kyle suddenly found his brother's face contorted with rage, his steely eyes blazing and his sharp teeth bared. Kevin looked totally inhuman.

 _Damn_. Feeling a primitive sensation of fear bubble up inside him, Kyle said, "Wha—no, listen, Kevin—"

"No, you listen! This kid, this fantastic, wonderful little kid," Kevin said, jabbing a finger at Little, who was still perched on Kyle's shoulder, "has been my— _our_ nephew for seven years to this very day, and you're telling me _now_ that you think you're his _father_?"

"I… It's just a theory—" Kyle said.

"A theory!" Kevin laughed, spitting the words as if they were poisonous. "Oh, yeah, a theory! Completely baseless, of course, because it's so ridiculous! I can't believe you, Kyle, _I cannot believe you_."

Kyle was vaguely aware of everyone else watching, but he couldn't look away from Kevin's horrible, horrible face. His brother shook his head, leering down at him with a ferocity that Kyle never believed possible.

"You think we didn't notice that he's just like you? The second he was born, Mom was convinced that he _was_ you. And he acted just like you, and the resemblance was so strong that we made his goddamn name _Little Kyle_ ," The corners of Kevin's mouth were steaming. "I wanted to ask you about it, actually! It seemed so, so strange, because I knew that you'd _never_ cheat on Kari, you love her so, so much. But I guess it was wrong to have faith in you!"

"It wasn't like that," Kyle said, his voice low. "No, really, Kevin, if you'd just let me explain for one second—"

Kevin gave him a look of contempt before addressing Little, who was still sitting silently on Kyle's shoulder. "You'd better get out of the way, bud."

"But I want to know what he means!" Little tightened his grip on Kyle's sweater.

"I know, and you deserve to know, Little, more than anyone else, but right now, I need to knock some sense into Mr. Shade," Kevin said, breathing out some heavy smoke. "Just go with Chicky for a minute, okay?"

"But—"

" _Little_ ," Kevin said.

Little stared at Kevin for a few seconds, then leapt off Kyle's shoulder to the ground. He marched away, over to Chikoro and the others, who Kyle noticed were watching, singing the grass in his wake. Kevin regarded the burnt footsteps with a grim frown.

"So," Kevin turned back to Kyle, eyes narrowing once more. "Your explanation. Let's hear it."

Kyle breathed. "First of all, it's not what you think."

"Oh, I'm sure," Kevin grinned maliciously. "It's not like he's your spitting image or anything, his mom's not a two-bit Ditto—"

"Shut up!" Kyle snarled. "It wasn't a Ditto, and you don't know anything about what I was going through, or—"

"What _you_ were going through? Kyle, we all— all of us, you and Kari and me and Chicky, we were all dealing with the same stuff at that point! We had just gotten over the whole Chuno thing, and none of us went off and had secret children!"

"Like I meant to do that!" Kyle shouted. "If I had known what was going to happen, and there's still no proof that it's actually true, by the way—"

"Do you _not know_ where babies come from?!"

"If you'd let me finish my goddamn sentences—"

"Why? You're not explaining anything!"

"Argh!" Kyle yelled, feeling his fists burning. "This is exactly why I wasn't going to tell you, you never let me say anything!"

Kevin's eyes widened. "You weren't going to tell me?" he said, slowly, as if he thought he'd heard Kyle wrong.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Well, definitely not first!"

There was a silence, and Kyle thought that finally, _finally_ , for the first time ever, Kevin would shut up and stop making assumptions. As Kyle opened his mouth to speak, however, Kevin's right fist collided with his head with a swift Mach Punch, and he blacked out.

* * *

Kyle sat up, reeling; his temple was throbbing from the hit so much, he felt nauseous. As he leaned his forehead on the warm, metal bars of his cell, and willed himself not to puke, he saw a pair of familiar feet.

"Hello," the overlord said. "You're up early."

A million different curses rang in Kyle's head as he looked up, forgetting for a second that it wasn't really Kevin and that the overlord deserved no blame for that hit. But then he remembered that the other, older Kevin had been the one to lock him up in the first place. He compromised by growling.

Chuckling, the overlord gave him a smirk. He looked pretty ridiculous in a long, flowing black cloak. "I know, I know, what the hell am I doing down here? I thought I'd check up on you, since it's been a while."

A while? He'd been living out his nights in this oven of a castle since before Christmas. During that time, he'd only ever seen the overlord once, on the very first night, when they'd had a rather long and drawn out interview of sorts. After the hundredth question or so, his not-brother had suddenly gotten a paranoid look on his face and chucked him down into the dungeons. Kari had been looking after him ever since.

Kyle shut his eyes tightly and stood up, using the bars for support. (Had he really been knocked out by a single Mach Punch? Kevin must have been training hard.) Once he was up, he opened his eyes enough to glare at his visitor. Of all the times to be sent back here, it had to be in the middle of such an important fight…

"Any chance of letting me out?" Kyle said, wondering why he'd even bothered. Sure enough, a nasty smile crept up the overlord's face.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You're a little too out of it for your own good, you know. I mean, a pill that lets Pokémon speak human… We both know that can't happen. Only a select few of the inhabitants of this castle can speak like us." Overlord narrowed his eyes. "Anyway, the guard told me you fainted last night."

Had he? Kyle blinked. Right, Stella had woken him up in the middle of his conversation with the other Kari. "Oh, that? Yeah, someone woke me up."

"Someone?" Overlord asked, frowning. "Who?"

"My PR agent. She wakes me up every day, I told you," Kyle said, brushing his hair away from his face. "Not that it matters, seeing as you don't believe me."

Overlord shrugged, causing his cloak to ripple. "It's just so bizarre, the stuff you say. It's kind of sad to think that your memory was addled that much." Then, quietly, he added, "But at least you still remember me."

Kyle blinked. "Well, yeah, I remember you, just not as an evil king terrorizing a desert," he said. "And you remember me, just not as the Shade."

The overlord grimaced. "You are not Lord Shade," he said in the same voice his brother had just used to scold him with.

"I never said I was a lord," Kyle muttered.

Studying him, Overlord began to pace. "So, that fainting spell," he began, "it wasn't anything… unusual? You fully expected to return here?"

"Uh," Kyle said, taken aback. "Yes?"

Not-Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's good, I guess."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I would love it if I suddenly stopped coming back here," Kyle said, smiling bitterly. "I hate being trapped."

Overlord's expression was unreadable. He stopped pacing and faced the wall. "I see." The king tapped his foot, then asked, "Do you understand why you're here?"

"Because you think I'm a nutjob and shoved me in jail?" Kyle answered.

"I meant… _here_. Back… back to this world." Overlord's fingers tapped his arm methodically.

Kyle sighed. "No. I told you, it just kind of happened. What do you mean by 'this world', do you finally believe me?"

Overlord didn't answer. He was gazing at the yellow brick walls. Finally, he turned around and said, in what Kyle believed was supposed to be a kind-hearted voice, "Are you hungry yet? We have apples."

Kyle laughed. He couldn't count how many times they'd tried to give him food. "No, I'm not hungry."

"Very well, then," Overlord said as he made to leave. "I'll have the guard return shortly." And the king walked off, carrying himself with dignity.

Normally, Kyle would have been perfectly content with some time to himself, away from prying questions and disbelieving laughter, but it occurred to him that soon, he'd wake up with half a dozen people crowded around him, demanding answers about Little's paternity. He swore, sitting down again and tracing lines in the sand.

What was he supposed to say? No matter which way he spun the tale, he couldn't make himself look good. He was angry and made a rash decision, and now he was suffering the consequences. _Yeah, suffering seven years too late_ , he pictured Kevin saying with a shake of his head. It was just like Kevin to not realize how many guilty nights Kyle had spent in grave denial…

But he had to deal with it. He was Little's father, probably. At the very least, the timing was right. March twenty-second would be the date, if there was one.

Oh, god…

He heard footsteps, and jerked his head up in time to see two kids try hastily to hide themselves around the corner. He smiled.

"Hello, Blue and Emmy."

Blue poked his head out right away, returning his smile, while his sister was much more reluctant, emerging with a pout. Blue trotted up to Kyle, sitting down in front of him, and beckoned his sister to follow. Emmy sighed dramatically and took a seat a foot away.

"Hi, Uncle Kyle," Blue said, his voice very small. He was almost ten, but he was a Monferno already and very lanky, and reminded Kyle of Kevin at fourteen. There was a key difference, though; while Kevin's eyes were sharp and steely, Blue's were larger and softer. Kyle had the impression that Blue could never hide his feelings with eyes as open as that, no matter how hard he tried. "You look well!"

Perplexed, Kyle said, "Um, thanks?"

Emmy scoffed. She was around Little's age, a little bigger than he was, with pale green eyes that Kyle vaguely recalled seeing on another person, a long time ago. "I _told you_ he wasn't dead."

"Dead? Why would I be dead?" Kyle asked, frowning.

Blue bit his lip. "Well, I heard Miss Kari telling Dad that you'd collapsed…"

"People collapse all the time!" Emmy said, her voice far louder than her brother's.

"Yeah, well, I think Dad was worried you'd died or something, because he ran down here to see you, and he didn't come up for a long time, until now!" Blue said, sending a horrified look at Emmy. "So, I got worried, too, and—"

"There was nothing to worry about," Emmy finished, looking thoroughly irritated. Kyle laughed.

"Thanks for the concern, you two," he said, feeling a genuine smile emerge. If there was one pleasant thing for Kyle to look forward to in the entire castle, it was talking with his niece and nephew. Unlike everyone else who lived there, they didn't question his memory or sanity, and he didn't ever have to question theirs. Perhaps it was because they had no equivalents in the real world (to his knowledge, anyway), but Kyle considered them the most real of all the people here.

Emmy shook her head and pouted again. "I was never really worried."

"Yes you were," Blue said.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Anyway, Uncle Kyle, how was your time in your world? You said there was going to be a birthday party, right?"

Kyle was drenched in a wave of bitterness. "Oh. Yeah."

Blue adopted the expression that Kyle usually associated with his fretting mother. "Oh no, did something happen?"

"Mm. A lot of grownup stuff. Nothing you need to worry about," Kyle said, rubbing a hand behind his head.

"We're sorry to hear that," Blue said. Unlike other children, Blue never seemed to want to pry. "You have it hard enough, living in a cell."

"Speaking of which," Emmy said, smirking, "I found the keys!"

Kyle shook his head. "That's nice of you, but I told you that I'm not trying to escape. There are too many guards who can throw me back in."

"Oh, but," Emmy said, blinking, "you could hide in the tower! Blue and I go up there all the time, and Dad never finds us!"

"If I escaped, I think your dad would comb the whole castle to find me, Emera." Kyle waved a hand. "Besides, it's never that simple. I've had experience with escape plans. They never work the way you want them to, trust me. And I don't want either of you in trouble because of me."

She pouted. "Fine, stay in there, then."

Blue looked crestfallen. "Suit yourself," he said, hardly above a whisper.

Kyle sighed. He hated upsetting them, but what else could he do? To have them end up in a window-breaking incident would be horrible. He could never forgive himself for something like that. But they didn't understand, because they couldn't even see the scars he'd suffered. Here, it was like he'd never been injured at all.

"Guys," Kyle said, "I know you think you can help me, but you're not going to, okay? Not if I can help it."

"So we just need to come up with a plan that you can't help?" Emmy said, perking up. "Like, a really good one that's guaranteed to work?"

"If we could make it one hundred percent foolproof…" Blue said, holding his chin.

"No!" Kyle said, a little louder than he would have liked. "There's nothing you can do!"

Emmy glared at him, her arms crossed. "There's always something."

"When there's a will, there's a way," Blue chimed. "That's what Miss Kari says."

"Hey, Miss Kari! She can help, too, don't you think?" Emmy turned to her brother with a grin.

"Yeah, I bet if we got her help, then you'd start listening, right?" Blue gave Kyle a wide smile.

Kyle felt like he had swallowed something bitter. "I would rather not participate in one of Kari's escape plans ever again."

"Again? Wait, you've escaped from somewhere before, with her?" Blue asked, his large eyes even wider.

Goddamn it. "I… In my world…"

He suddenly felt something cool graze his face. Instinctively, he went to touch it, but there was nothing there.

"Uncle Kyle?" Emmy asked, but before he could respond his vision blanked.

* * *

His sight returned not a second later to greet him with dark, almond shaped eyes. Attempting to get over the gravity change quickly, Kyle let out a short sigh and frowned.

"Hi, Stella."

"Hi," she said. "Um, I think I bumped you with my nose there. Sorry."

Kyle half-shrugged. He was lying down in his bed, and with Stella on top of him it almost seemed like a regular morning. Only it was evening, and Stella didn't look very happy to see him.

"Everyone hates me, I'll bet." Kyle drew his eyes away from hers to focus on the uninteresting view of his rocky bedroom wall. He should have put something up to decorate it.

"Well," Stella muttered, also turning away, "I think everyone's mostly confused. Your, uh, confession was a little unexpected, you know, since you always talk about how much you like Kari and…" Her voice went very high.

Crap. _Crap_.

"Stell," He reached up to pet her behind the ears. "Listen to me. It's not—I didn't—It was all a huge mistake, entirely my fault, and I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially not you, okay?"

She grimaced. "But… Boss…"

One of her ice-cold tears landed on him and he shuddered. "You remember what I said, right?"

She nodded erratically. "You promised, and you broke it!"

"Damn it, no, I didn't mean to, all right? Everything just went horribly, horribly wrong, Stell. I… I was mad at Kari, but not you. I—"

"That doesn't change that it happened!" Stella shouted. "You promised! You said that—that if you ever, _ever_ got over Kari—"

He seized her and pulled her into a kiss, knowing that at this point, there was no other way to get her to shut up. She sniffed, and he felt another, sudden bitter pang run through him. Once they stopped, he breathed, and looked straight into her eyes.

"Listen to me. Just hear me out. Kevin didn't hear the whole thing, it's not as simple as he thinks it is. All right?"

Stella blinked back her tears. "You'll tell me everything?"

"Yes," he said.

"And it'll be the truth?"

"Yes."

She sighed, sitting up. "I love you."

"I know," Kyle said, and he wrapped her in a hug.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone was crowded in the main room, and almost everyone was glaring at him, with the exception of Stella, who had gone to hide behind the counter, and his mother, who was wearing the same unreadable look that he'd just seen Overlord use. Even Little, who Kyle had barely ever seen express dislike, was looking at him with the most contemptible face a seven-year-old could ever make. Well, that was it, then, he'd never have friends again.

"Stella says you're going to tell us everything." Kevin got up from the spot of wall he had been leaning on, taking large, animated steps to stand in front of him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes, I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so long as you let me." Kyle clenched his fists. He really wanted to get back at Kevin for punching him, but now was not the time. Patience, patience.

"Kevin, honey, let your brother speak," said his mother. Her mouth was thin and her eyes were closed.

Well, wasn't HQ just a joyous little underground cavern! He could practically feel the sunshine. "Thanks, Mom," Kyle said as Kevin retraced his steps back to his previous place. She huffed.

"Right. Okay. Um," Kyle said. How was he supposed to begin? Stella had taught him how to make speeches, not tell a room full of his friends and family about the biggest mistake of his life. He looked at the counter, thinking that, if nothing else, she'd understand once he got going. She had to. "I believe that it's possible that I'm Little's father."

He saw Kevin shake his head out of the corner of his eye, but he continued. "Before I say anything, I want to make it clear that I'm not totally certain about that, and there's a chance that I may not be, but all the same, it's pretty goddamn likely. I've been wrestling with the idea for a while, and I didn't want to say anything until I was certain, but I blew it, so… Uh, seven years ago, kind of in the middle of January…

"I saw – well, heard, I guess – Kari was on the phone with Kevin. I knew they'd gotten pretty close because of the little trainer journey thing they were on together, and I knew Kevin liked her, but I didn't realize that she actually, well, returned some of those feelings, I mean—"

"So it's my fault," Kari said, her voice cutting through his like a saw blade. "Blame anyone but yourself. That's your motto, isn't it?"

"It's all my fault," he pressed. He didn't dare to try and look at her. "I got jealous, all right? It was stupid and immature, and I get that. But I wasn't thinking rationally at the time. I thought that you were trying to get back at me for all the stupid things I did before, or whatever. So I decided— Well, I wanted to show you that I could play that game too, okay?

"So I came up with this stupid plan to get a fake girlfriend just to spite you, and it was going to be Stella, but I knew that if I did that, I'd end up hurting her a lot more than you, and I didn't want that, so I decided to find someone else. I looked at Stark Mountain, but all the interested girls there were really annoying and clingy, and I didn't want to have to put up with that, so I went to Hoenn instead.

"Then I found the perfect person to make you jealous, because she was pretty and nice and interested in Pokémon rights and there was nothing easy to hate about her, at least not at first glance. I intended on spending a few days at Mount Chimney to get to know her and bring her back, and I was going to tell Stella what I was doing so she wouldn't be upset about it, but I—"

Here it was, the part of the story he'd never repeated, not even to himself. He wondered if he'd even be able to tell it correctly, since his memory was still fuzzy.

"She gave me a drink, it had apples in it, uh, Ero drinks them…" he said, trailing off.

"An apple spritz?" Ero said, looking bewildered.

"Yeah, that's it," Kyle rubbed his forehead. "She said it was some mixed thing, and she liked to make them for people. It tasted pretty awful, even with the apples, but I was trying to be nice because I needed her to come back to Sinnoh with me, so I drank it anyway… And then she gave me some more…"

"But those aren't even that potent!" Ero said.

Kevin coughed. "Wait, _what_?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure hers were, okay, because I don't—" He bit his tongue. "I know I started hitting on her, after that, and I think you're all smart enough to figure out what happened next. It's my fault, I shouldn't have had the damn drinks, and she'd had a few herself, too—"

Kari scoffed. "Like she didn't know what she was doing."

"What—No!" Kyle said. "Look, she's really not the kind of person who'd do something like that—"

"How do you know? Because she's _perfect_? You knew her for what, ten minutes? From the sounds of it, you don't even remember her name!" Kari snarled.

Kyle blinked. "I remember her name," he said, quietly.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman, then." Kari eyes became slits. "Oh wait, you're not, because once you woke up the next morning and realized what happened, you ran the hell out of there, didn't you? And the poor, perfect fake girlfriend never got the chance to tell you that she was having your kid!"

Kyle breathed. "I'm not proud of it."

"There's just one itty bitty little thing," Kari said with a venomous sweetness. "She just kind of plopped Little's egg on the ground once she had him, didn't she? Kevin found it _abandoned_ , after all."

Kyle frowned. "Maybe… something happened to her, I don't know."

"I have no idea why you're so determined to keep this girl in a good light," Kari said. "She's clearly—"

"Kari, it's my fault!" Kyle yelled. "But if you want to spread the blame around, then let's do it! It's my fault for being an idiot, it's hers for giving me drinks, it's yours for starting a relationship with my brother and it's Kevin's for liking you in the first place! It's Stella's fault because she loves me, and those Stark Mountain girls' because they were irritating! I guess it's my dad's fault, too, since he created the pill that made my career an actual thing, and it's Mom's fault for marrying him and having me! Does that make you happy?"

His eyes felt like they were on fire, but he did his best to ignore them. Kari studied him for a long time, her blue eyes cold. Finally, she spoke.

"I'll be happy if you tell me why you didn't mention this ordeal for the past seven years." She motioned her head towards Little, who was sitting on the floor, looking away. Kyle stared.

"Because I have flaws, all right?" He turned around. "I'll be in my room."

And he walked down the hall, briskly, hoping that everyone would understand that the conversation was over and that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He threw aside the thin drapery that hung over his doorway and collapsed onto his bed, wondering if Blue and Emmy were worried that he'd suddenly passed out yet again…

Someone knocked, and he turned around, ready to curse the hell out of whoever had the nerve to bother him, but once he saw the look on Ero's face, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Ero, I really don't want to talk," he said instead, shaking his head.

Ero shrugged. He looked rather meek. "I just wanted to check something."

Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"That girl… she's the one you told me about before, right?"

Oh. Right. "…Yeah."

"The way you made it sound before…"

"I'm sorry I wasn't completely honest," Kyle said. "Would you mind leaving me alone now?"

Ero bit his lip, and Kyle watched him drum his fingers on the wall a couple times before he nodded. "Yeah, okay. Bye."

And Kyle was alone. Realistically, that was probably how things would be for a while.

He lay down and stared at the ceiling. Well, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it. He'd brought it all upon himself, because he was jealous and bitter and had feelings for someone who no longer reciprocated them. Like a fake girlfriend plot would really solve his relationship problems! Seriously, how cliché was that? Why did Kari have to do this to him…?

Kyle scrunched his eyes shut. No, he was doing it again. It was just like she said. He liked to fling blame all over the place, so long as he didn't get hit. But he was responsible for his own actions, and she was responsible for hers. The fact that Kari had moved on wasn't wrong, it was his reaction to it that messed everything up.

Speaking of reactions…

He allowed his eyes to open a sliver. Everyone hated him, obviously, but there was still a chance for reconciliation. His mother could never stop talking to him forever, and Ero had just made an effort to come and talk to him, hadn't he? Hell, even Stella, with all her crying, would come back eventually. How many times had they fought, exactly? But here, he wasn't the one mad at her, she was mad at him.

He blew a stray hair away from his face. He wondered if she'd be angry enough to run to the media. He could picture the headlines: Kyle the Shade, Negligent Father, featuring an exclusive interview with the illegitimate child himself. Stella wasn't that spiteful, though. But what about Little?

Kyle didn't know anything about Little, mostly because he'd spent most of the child's life trying not to get too close. All he knew was what others had told him, which amounted to little more than "Oh, he's so much like you!" Sure, they looked the same, and Kyle could understand why Little would remind people of him, but did they think the same way, believe the same things? There wasn't a way to tell, because the kid just turned _seven_.

Seven years ago, he'd have said that seven years was a long time.

* * *

Around midnight, Kyle got hungry, so he tore himself away from his bed and made his way to the crate behind the counter in the main room where he kept his stock of apples. For once, he really didn't care whether he ate a red delicious or what. He only wanted to qualm his rumbling stomach so that he could go straight back to bed. Then again, lying down sleepless for a few more hours wasn't that appealing.

He didn't want to go back to the desert. It was hot and stuffy and he had to deal with his real life at the moment, not his stupid dreams.

Kyle glanced up the passage to the outside. He couldn't see anything. It was completely shrouded in black. No moon, then? Well, he'd still be able to see the stars.

He grabbed a random apple and shoved it into his pocket. Trudging up the tunnel, Kyle got a face full of fresh air along with a view of the speckled sky. He breathed in, sighed, took a bite of his apple (Fuji), and looked straight up.

Kyle frowned. He'd forgotten most of the constellations; he always mixed up their names and patterns. Kevin was always better with remembering stuff like that, even though Kyle was sure that he couldn't see the stars properly with his terrible eyesight. Squinting, Kyle focused on a particular patch of sky, and felt a tiny memory come back to him.

Gardevoir. That one was easy to remember, because of his Aunt Lily. That's what his father had told him, anyway.

His father, who had run away from them to be a human, because otherwise he'd have died. But what was the point in abandoning the family? Surely, there'd have been no harm in sticking together.

…Damn it.

Kyle tossed his apple core away somewhere and crossed his arms tight. Without ever intending to, and without really realizing it until now, he had done the one thing he swore he'd never do. He'd given his own kid a life without a father, except this time it was even worse, because Little didn't even have a mother. It didn't matter that he didn't know, it still happened, and he really should have said something the moment he suspected—

"Oh," said a voice.

Kyle brightened the flame on his tail in a panic, and the small figure of a green grass type came into view. Chikoro. Kyle groaned. He'd let himself get startled for _Chikoro_?

"What are you doing out here?" Kyle asked, narrowing his eyes. He kept his flame bright out of courtesy.

"I could ask the same." Chikoro rolled his eyes. "Can't a guy take a late night stroll?"

"But you're a grass type," Kyle said. "Aren't you tired without the sun up or something like that?"

Chikoro laughed. "I don't know, maybe prowling the night is a trait I got from my mother." He shook his head. "God knows I inherited _some_ things from that good for nothing—"

He cut himself off, looking like he'd let some huge secret slip, but Kyle had no idea what he was talking about. After a second, he continued, "Anyway, uh, if you're running away or something—"

"I am not running away," Kyle said harshly.

"Okay, well, if you're brooding alone, then," said Chikoro, smirking, "keep in mind that Slickky is itching to punch your face in again. So if I were you, I'd be pretty careful about how I act for the next few days."

"Aren't you guys supposed to be heading back to Hoenn tomorrow?" Kyle asked, flicking his tail. The light flickered.

"Ha! You think we're going to leave, after today? Think again, man!" Chikoro grinned.

Something in Kyle's throat plummeted. "I thought you'd all hate me so much, you'd want to leave as soon as possible."

"Hell no." Chikoro began walking back inside the cave, a small skip in his step. "We're going to haunt you over this for the rest of your life!" And he sauntered out of sight.

Blinking, Kyle looked towards the sky again. Gardevoir twinkled back at him.

"I'm not perfect," Kyle muttered, gritting his teeth. "Can't people take that into consideration?"

But stars couldn't speak, so he never got an answer.


	5. Chapter 5

"Imagine that you never met your dad." Kyle tapped the sandy stone floor with his fingers. "But then, one day, you find out that your dad is this guy you've known a long time, and he'd always thought that he was your dad, but never said anything about it. What would you want him to say?"

Blue shrugged, his mouth full of his lunch. "I dunno," he mumbled between bites.

"That's a weird question," Emmy said. She picked at her sandwich, pulling off bits of crust. "Why? Did that happen to you?"

"Er, kind of." Kyle frowned. "In that situation, I'm the dad."

"Oh," Emmy said. Kyle was uncomfortably reminded of his conversation with Chikoro from an hour ago.

"I'd want to know why he wasn't sure about it," Blue said. He swallowed.

Kyle grimaced. "Well… the kid's mom and I, we weren't really in touch. And I didn't really want to believe it. I'm still not totally sure about it, but everyone else is treating it like it's fact, so I guess I should, too."

"What does the kid think?" Blue asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Kyle said. "I was hoping you two would tell me."

"Well," Emmy drawled the word. "I know it's not really the same, but I think if someone came up to me and said she was my mom, I'd want her to tell me that she was sorry that she wasn't my mom before, but she'd do her best to make it up to me."

Blue frowned. "Emmy…"

"I said it wasn't the same, I'm just trying to help!" Emmy crossed her arms and looked away.

"I'm sorry, am I missing something here?" Kyle said, blinking.

Blue's eyes widened, as if he'd seen something terrifying. "Our mom was gone for a long time… but a few days ago, she came back."

"No she didn't," Emmy said. "It's just someone who looks like her, Blue. She doesn't know who we are, she's just pretending."

"…How long is a long time?" Kyle asked, looking at Blue.

"Um, I think I was five." Blue's shoulders drooped. "Emmy was just a baby, so she can't tell that it's really her. But she came back, I know she did!"

Emmy rolled her eyes.

Kyle sat for a moment, feeling a sudden surge of pity for his niece and nephew, even if they weren't real. He was under the impression that Overlord, however messed up he was, had a happy family, based on the way Blue and Emmy usually acted. To hear that his wife had left him was unexpected, to say the least.

"Usually, when the wife leaves," Kyle said, hoping he was phrasing his thoughts in a way that wouldn't hurt them, "she takes the kids with her. But your mom left the two of you with your dad?"

"She—she didn't leave because she wanted to," Blue said in a whisper, his eyes enormous.

"I don't think we should say anything about that," Emmy said quickly.

"But—"

"Remember what we heard Dad saying? If we tell him anything too crazy—"

"Well, I think Dad's wrong!"

"You think that that lady is actually Mom!"

"Guys, guys!" Kyle said, making them fall silent. Good, he didn't want to know what would happen if their father caught them sneaking around in the dungeons. "It's okay – listen – I've heard my fair share of crazy stories, all right? Hell, your dad thinks the stories about my world are pretty crazy. I don't know how he thinks I'll react or whatever, but I assure you, I'll be fine."

He smiled, hoping that that would settle it, but both kids were frowning.

"Do you understand why you're here?" Blue asked quietly, watching Kyle with all the happiness of a funeral procession.

Kyle sighed. Not that question again. "No. I don't."

Blue looked at Emmy, then back to Kyle, shaking his head. "Mom doesn't either."

"Are you saying— Is your mom from my world?" Kyle blinked rapidly. What did that even mean? If there were other people like him here—

"We can't tell you," Emmy said. She looked genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Uncle Kyle."

* * *

Wake up, wake up, wake up. How he missed the feeling of a good night's sleep. It didn't help that, for the first time in years, the lovely Estelle Glacée was not the one waking him. No, he had his irritating brother to thank for that.

"Today is March twenty-third, or, as you'll now call it, Get to Know Your Son Day. Ready to become a responsible father?" Kevin asked with a sweet smile. It seemed that he was taking the Chikoro route and drenching everything in heavy-handed sarcasm.

Kyle sat up, stretching his arms. "Yeah, all right."

"I mean it, you know. No slacking off on this, because it's going to be one of the most important events in your life. Got it?" Kevin's head tilted to the side in a sort of I-can't-believe-I-have-to-put-up-with-this manner.

"Right," Kyle said, getting out of bed.

Kevin blinked. "So you understand?"

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I really wish that you would stop asking me that."

"Huh?"

"Yes, Kevin, for once, I actually understand. Now, if you don't mind…"

Kevin stepped aside, allowing him to leave his room. As he walked out into the main room, he shuddered. Everyone's eyes were on him again, Ero's, accusatory and sullen, Chikoro's, malicious and red. It was like being back in the lab, batting away the kids who looked like they wanted to pick him, with Kari nipping at their outstretched hands…

"Little's outside," called Kevin. Kyle nodded.

"All right. Thank you," he said without really meaning it.

He made his way up the cavern's slope, getting a face full of sunlight as he stepped outside. The air was cool, but the streaks of sun were very warm. He squinted before fishing into his sweater pocket for his sunglasses, throwing them over his eyes. There, much better.

Kyle glanced around and spotted Little conversing with a Pikachu a few feet away, under the shade of some pine trees. The Pikachu noticed him staring, mumbled something to Little, and then bounded away, leaving a very disappointed Chimchar in her wake.

Kyle made his way over to Little in a few strides. Little looked up at him, giving him a dirty look. Kyle sighed.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"My friend," Little said. "She thinks you're mean. That's why she ran away."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "She wouldn't be the first one. Anyway, I think we need to talk. Is that okay?"

Little frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

Grateful that, at the very least, Little wasn't avoiding him, Kyle sat down on the cool grass beside his son. Wincing, he crossed his legs, clasped his hands together, and stared at the ground. Little. His son. He would have to get used to that. A breeze blew by, and Kyle thought that Little had picked a rather pleasant spot for a conversation.

"Do I know my mom already, too?" Little blurted out, suddenly.

"Um," Kyle said. He flicked his tail. "I really doubt it."

"You know her though, right?" Little asked, his wide eyes suddenly shining. "You have to, because parents are always together at some point, right?"

Kyle opened his mouth a little, then shut it. "Well… yeah, that's how it works. But your mother and I were only together for one night."

He was very, very thankful that Little didn't understand why his face was so red.

"That doesn't mean that you can't be good friends, though," Little pressed, balling his hands into fists. "I've only met my best friend a few times, but I really like her!"

"Yeah, but I'm not… There's one way to tell for certain, I guess. Have you ever met any girl Monferno, other than your grandma?" Kyle asked.

Little shook his head. "No."

"Then you don't know her," Kyle said.

Little frowned. "Oh, wait!" His face lit up.

"What?" Kyle said, his own face losing its colour.

"I met Ero's big sister, when we were here last time!" Little bounced on his spot.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "She's not your mom," he said. Then, under his breath, he muttered, "Thank god."

A moment of silence fell over them, but Little soon broke it again. "What's her name?"

"Hm?"

"My mom's name, what is it? You said you remembered, but you never said it." Little looked up at him, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Oh. Her name is Vera," Kyle said. Then, sensing that Little wasn't satisfied with that alone, he added, "She's got gray eyes, kind of like Blu—uh, Ero's, but wider, I guess, and she was very shy. She opened up a little once we got talking, though."

Little blinked. "She sounds so nice." His attention turned to the clouds.

"Very nice. And pretty. Nothing easy to hate about her," Kyle muttered. Exactly what he was looking for.

"So why did she abandon me?" Little asked.

Kyle grimaced. "I don't know, Little. I wish I did."

"So do I." Little narrowed his eyes. "Catchy said that I should go ask her why."

"Catchy?" Kyle asked.

"My friend," Little said.

Kyle frowned. "Well… I guess that's not a bad idea. If she's still living in the same place, I know where to go."

"Really? You'll take me?" Little asked, unable to hide his hopefulness.

Kyle nodded. "Of course. It's the least I can do, to make up for everything. I think that I should probably talk to her, too. I can take you tomorrow, if you'd like."

Little beamed. "Sounds great! Thanks, Dad!"

* * *

"Thanks, Dad?!"

"Thanks, Dad! I thought he hated me!"

Kyle paced around his room, running his hands through his hair, while Stella followed erratically behind him. At this rate, the two of them were going to make a giant, circle-shaped impression in the floor.

"Like, first he reveres me, then he finds out I'm his dad and starts leering at me, and now he's as bright eyed and bushy tailed as can be! Is he just— Is he putting it on, or—"

"Boss, I don't think seven-year-olds can manipulate people like that," Stella said.

"It's just so jarring, you know? A change that sudden isn't natural at all," Kyle muttered. He shook his head, turning around.

Stella bit her lip. "Well, maybe he's just doing that thing that you do…"

"What thing? I do a thing?" Kyle asked, blinking. He began to pace backwards.

"You know, the anger diversion. You can't get mad at Kari, so you get mad at Kevin instead. You can never stay mad at me, so you start badmouthing Chuno. You take it out on somebody else, so maybe Little's doing that, too. It wouldn't surprise me if he's sitting in the main room right now, thinking about how much he hates his mom," Stella said.

Kyle frowned and stopped pacing. "You think? But he has every right to hate me, too…"

"Do you _want_ him to hate you?" Stella asked.

"No, of course not! But I don't want him to hate his mom so much," Kyle sighed, slumping down on the side of his bed.

Stella went to curl up at his feet. "Right… Because she's such a wonderful person."

"Stell—"

"Don't 'Stell' me," Stella said, frowning up at him. "I'm still mad at you, you know!"

"I know," Kyle said, blinking, "but I appreciate you taking the time out of hating me to be my confidante."

She rolled her eyes. "So you're going out to find that woman tomorrow, huh?"

"Provided that there's nothing keeping me here, yes," Kyle said.

"You have an interview tomorrow."

"Crap, really?"

"Really. What's up with you, anyway? You used to remember when we scheduled things, and now you can barely keep track of the days of the week!" Stella stood up. She narrowed her eyes at him, as if trying to glower, but ended up failing miserably.

Well, it was pretty hard to remember which day was which when you were living every day twice.

"I just haven't been getting enough sleep." Kyle shrugged.

Stella raised her eyebrows. "Really? With all the naps you've been taking?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I haven't had a full night's sleep all winter, and it doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon," Kyle rubbed his eyes. "If those damn dreams would just stop, maybe things would be different, but no. I can't get away from my own head for two seconds."

"Huh?" Stella jumped up on the bed beside him. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember a couple months ago, when I told you about that funny dream I had where Kevin was wearing a cape and asking me weird questions?" Kyle asked.

She giggled. "Oh yeah! Mr. Evil Overlord, of course I remember!"

"Yeah, well, I've been dreaming about being stuck in his dungeon every night since," Kyle said.

"Weird! Are you claustrophobic or something, then? Like, are they nightmares?" She gave him a searching look, as if she were trying to diagnose him or something.

"Not really. To be honest, the only reason I call them dreams is because they happen when I'm asleep – being there feels so real." Seeing her incredulous face, he added, "I'm sure it's just a stress thing, though, nothing to worry about. They're annoying, but I've got bigger issues to deal with right now."

Stella tilted her head. "I guess so. I think you should go to the Pokémon Center about that, though."

"I don't need to—"

"Boss, if you have insomnia, and it's impeding your ability to be the best you can be, then you need to fix that!" Stella said firmly.

"But I—"

"You have some free time right now, don't you? Let's go get you checked out. I'll escort you!" she said, headbutting him off his bed.

"Stell!"

"If you don't take care of yourself, then I will!"

"You're being ridiculous!" Kyle said as she continued to push him through the hallway, main room, and up the tunnel.

"I'm allowed to be ridiculous!" Stella shouted.

"So I got my trainer's licence by taking a written qualifications test, and I— Oh, hello!"

Stella stopped pushing as they reached the outside, and Kyle looked to his right to see Roo and Chikoro, apparently chatting next to the entrance.

"Uh… hi." Kyle glanced at Chikoro, who looked like he was about to strangle them with his vines.

Roo smiled. "I hope you don't mind me being here! Chikoro just wanted to hear more about my strategies and stuff. See, he's adamant, so I was giving him some moveset advice, since I'm also a physically oriented grass type, you know?"

Not understanding a word Roo said, Kyle nodded. "Sure?"

Chikoro scoffed. "You don't need to explain anything to him, Roo. We're in the great outdoors, not his house. You have every right to stand here."

"Just being polite," Roo chirped. "Oh, hey, did you want to learn Seed Bomb now, Koro? I mean, without Earthquake, you're still not going to have the same coverage, but it's better than Energy Ball regardless of whether you're evolving or not."

Chikoro stiffened. "I… Yeah, sure—"

"Roo!" said someone with a melodic voice.

"Hi Viola!" Roo said to a small pink deer Pokémon who had just sauntered up behind Chikoro. "Sorry to make you wait, but I'll be there in just a second, okay?"

She nodded, then trotted away.

"Viola? What happened to Isabelle?" asked Chikoro, wide eyed.

"Too clingy," Roo said through a grimace. "Look, I'm sorry, Koro, but I'm going to have to teach you Seed Bomb another time. You'll be around, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Chikoro said.

"Great! Later, guys!" Roo said before dashing off to meet his girlfriend.

"And you wanted him on the Shades," Kyle muttered, raising an eyebrow at Stella.

Chikoro's head snapped around for another glare. "You've got some nerve."

"What?!" Kyle squinted. "You've got a temper! I'm not the one who interrupted your strategy thing, blame that Unovan girl."

"Not you, although you're annoying, too. I'm talking to Stella." Chikoro flipped his leaf over his face. "I thought we agreed to teach Mr. Shade a lesson?"

Stella sighed. "Yeah, but I—"

"Hanging out with him after he did something terrible is just going to lead him to believe that he can do whatever he wants without consequences." Chikoro tilted his nose up into the air.

"Excuse me, I'm not a child," Kyle said.

"Excuse you, you've got one now, so you'd better grow up!" Chikoro snarled.

"I'm taking him to see a doctor," Stella said quietly, her eyes closed. "He's been having sleeping problems."

Chikoro raised an eyebrow. "You need to go with him to the Pokémon Center?"

"If a reporter sees him, they might start some rumours about him being sick," Stella reasoned. "In which case, I'll have to quell those rumours while he has his check-up."

"Uh huh." Chikoro nodded slowly.

Kyle suddenly felt a surge of admiration for his PR agent. "Right. Can't have word spread about my terminal diseases, you know."

"Of course," Stella replied, a small smile emerging. "The world will be in a state of panic if they hear you're on your deathbed."

Chikoro made a show of rolling his eyes. "Whatever, Stella, stick by your wonderful boss if you must. The rest of us know better."

And as he strode away, Kyle gave his friend a quick scratch behind her ear. She looked up at him, curiously.

"Thank you," he said, and this time, he really meant it.


	6. Chapter 6

"So why _do_ you still want to hang out with me?" Kyle said, flipping through a slightly dated tabloid magazine in the Pokémon Center's waiting room. He was in the photo pages again, in the hundred billionth "candid" photo of him and Stella at the local coffee shop. Did they really have to take his picture every single time Stella wanted a latte?

Stella, who was leaning over to see the other celebrity pictures, giggled. "Honestly? I'd miss you too much."

He blinked. Was that a guilt trip, or…?

"As a friend," Stella added, glancing at his face.

"Good," Kyle said, "because I missed my friends during the several hours that I didn't have any."

He supposed he had Blue and Emmy, but they were imaginary children living in the imaginary desert inside his head.

"Number four, room fourteen-A," called a nurse from the desk.

"That's you," Stella said.

Kyle tossed the magazine onto a table, got up, and walked down the white hallway of the Pokémon Center to the first half of the fourteenth room, Stella at his heels. Before he could sit down on one of the office chairs, Nurse Joy came bustling in, hastily reading some paperwork.

"All right, all right. Mr. Shade? What can I do for you? Trouble with those lungs again?" she asked, giving him smile.

"Not this time." Kyle sat himself. "I have insomnia."

"Hit with Worry Seed, then?" she said.

"Huh?"

"Worry Seed, a move that many grass types can learn. If hit, the target acquires the Insomnia ability," Nurse Joy explained. "Were you in a battle recently? Perhaps you got hit by something that appeared to be Leech Seed, but didn't drain any of your energy?"

Kyle blinked. "Um, no?"

"Do you feel incessant worrying and anxiety every time you try and go to sleep? Even unnatural sleep, like from Sleep Powder or Hypnosis?" Nurse Joy scribbled something on her papers.

"No— Well, some of it's anxiety, but I think it's just… normal insomnia? It… doesn't feel like an ability. More like a disability, really." Kyle grimaced. Stella gave him a reassuring nudge on his leg.

Nurse Joy looked up. "Interesting. So Pokémon can have insomnia just like humans."

Well, Kyle really doubted that it was the quarter human part of him responsible for this particular problem. "I guess so."

Stella nodded. "I would say that it's a Pokémon condition, too."

"Okay. Why don't you tell me about your insomnia, then?" Nurse Joy said.

He nodded. "It started in December, when I had a very vivid dream. It was bizarre, but it felt real. When I woke up, it didn't really feel like I slept. More like I blinked, and all of a sudden I was back in the real world."

Nurse Joy's gaze held onto him as he continued. "The next night, the same thing happened again, and the next night again. Every time I'm unconscious, it happens. The only way to get back to reality is to fall asleep there, or have something wake me up here. And because it's uncomfortably hot over there, I only like to spend a couple hours at most. So I've been sleeping in tiny spurts for the past few months, I guess."

"These dreams," Nurse Joy said, "can you control them in any way?"

"It's not lucid dreaming, if that's what you're getting at," Kyle muttered.

"Oh, so that's why you were reading that book!" Stella said.

Nurse Joy tapped her pen on her paper. "Can you tell me more about what goes on inside the dreams? They're vivid, and… hot?"

"It's in a desert," Kyle said. He frowned. Telling Stella was one thing, but his not-quite-regular doctor? "Um… I'm in a jail cell… because my brother locked me in there in the first one. I don't really think it's symbolic of anything, I think it was just Kevin being an asshole."

Stella laughed.

"Anything else?"

"My brother and one of my friends are in them, but they seem to have lived different lives or something, I don't know. They act weird. And Kevin's got two kids he doesn't have in real life." Kyle scratched the back of his head. "Oh, and I don't have my sweater or my…"

"Scars," the nurse said. "Fascinating."

The nurse only knew about his scars in the first place because of the stupid appointment Kevin had made him get after their reunion. And here she was now, acting like his scars were just another interesting little detail. Kyle frowned, trying to push away the bitter thoughts and just get through what was necessary.

"Yeah," Kyle said. "Everyone thinks I'm nuts. That's why… they're keeping me in there…"

He stopped, something horrible clogging up his throat. Too late, story time was over.

"Well then," Nurse Joy looked over her notes again. "It sounds like the dreams are definitely the issue, so I don't want to prescribe any sleeping medication."

"Yeah, probably not the best idea." Kyle muttered.

"Unfortunately, I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not too familiar with the science behind dreams, but I believe that since you've been having them for so long, and that they're so detailed, there must be a psychological element to them. I know you don't agree, but being locked in prison seems like it would be symbolic of something in your life." The nurse held her chin.

Kyle sighed. "That's like saying there's something symbolic about yesterday's lunch," he said.

Nurse Joy shrugged. "If you really think so, I suppose we could try something with Dream Eater."

"What's that?" Kyle asked.

"It's a psychic type move. Normally, it's offensive, but with proper training, it can be controlled to help patients with night terrors and such. It could potentially put an end to these dreams of yours," the nurse said.

"And then you could have a nice long sleep," Stella beamed at him. "That sounds great, doesn't it?"

Kyle glanced at the ceiling. Well, yeah, having normal sleep would be a gift from above, but Dream _Eater_? That sounded so… _sketchy_. And if it was a psychic move, and he was fighting type, then wouldn't that still hurt regardless?

"Is that the best option?" Kyle asked.

"Unless you want me to tell you to take up yoga, yes." The nurse smiled cheekily.

Stella giggled. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll try it." He hoped that whatever Dream Eater was like, it didn't involve a psychic type actually eating the contents of his dreams.

"I suppose you'll want to make an appointment as soon as possible," Nurse Joy said. "Chansey!"

A large, round, pink Pokémon skipped into the room, holding her own clipboard. "Yes?"

"Schedule Mr. Shade for a Dream Eater session, all right?" she said.

Chansey nodded. "Yes, of course! There's an opening tomorrow—"

Kyle groaned.

"Boss, I'll reschedule the interview, it's no big deal. You're probably not up for it, anyway." Stella nudged him softly again.

"But Little—"

"Seven thirty! Is that a good time?" Chansey asked sweetly.

"Uh…" Kyle glanced at Stella. She nodded. "I guess, if it doesn't take too long."

"Typical sessions last from half an hour to an hour," Chansey said.

Stella grinned. "That's fine."

Kyle shrugged. "As long as Little isn't a morning person."

"He's not," Stella said.

"Okay, then," Kyle said, unsure why she would know that.

Chansey marked a note on her clipboard. "That settles it! See you again tomorrow, Mr. Shade! Have a nice day!"

"And make sure to see me if the Dream Eater doesn't work," Nurse Joy said.

"Don't worry!" Stella rose up to her feet like a dart. "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

"What do you mean, you're not going to come back?" Blue asked.

"I mean that I'm going to do something tomorrow morning that's going to stop these dreams. It's nothing personal against you, I just can't really stand it here." He felt bitter telling them, but he had to. It was closure, of sorts.

Emmy frowned. "But we just finished planning your escape. What about all our hard work?"

"Yeah!" Blue glanced at his sister, his eyes narrowing with determination. "We did! What about us?"

"Guys…" Kyle groaned. "I said I have nothing against you, and I meant it! But you're…"

He bit his lip, and turned away from them. "You're not real."

He expected them to take offense to his comment, and they did, but not in the way he'd imagined. Emmy sighed and sent him a dirty look, whereas Blue shook his head and sat back, crossing his arms.

"Even if we weren't real, why does it matter? Don't you want to see us?" Emmy asked, her eyes accusatory as Kyle had ever seen.

"I…" Kyle said.

"Argh!" Blue yelled, which was quite off-putting considering his usual calmness. "You and Mom are so convinced that you're the only people who matter! Didn't you two ever stop to think that maybe you're the ones who shouldn't exist?"

Kyle stared. "What?"

"Maybe _I'm_ real and _you're_ not! Actually, that's the truth! You wouldn't even be alive right now if Dad hadn't—"

 ** _"_** ** _Enough."_**

Blue flinched, Emmy let out a startled cry, and Kyle tried his best not to follow suit. That voice… What a creepy, uncomfortable shiver.

 ** _"_** ** _You're not one to disobey your father, Blue. Tell me, what did he say about the prisoner?"_**

"That we shouldn't talk to him," Blue said, mechanically.

 ** _"_** ** _And what in the world are you doing right now?"_** The voice seemed to smirk, and everyone present shuddered.

Blue looked at Kyle with pity. "Talking to him." He stood up. "I'm sorry, my lord."

 ** _"_** ** _Why don't you and your sister go and play elsewhere?"_** the voice said. Blue nodded, grabbed Emmy's hand, and made to leave.

 ** _"_** ** _Oh, and Blue?"_** said the voice. **_"No more plotting plans for the imprisoned's freedom, all right? That's not a skill that I'm particularly looking for in my army."_**

Blue nodded curtly. "Yes, my lord."

And the boy left, his sister watching him with wide eyes.

Kyle breathed. He didn't have any idea of what was happening, but before he could do anything, the unsettling voice spoke again.

 ** _"_** ** _Well, well. I don't suppose that we've formally met, have we, Mr. Shade?"_**

With a sudden breeze, Kyle watched his shadow slip out from underneath him and lean against the warm metal bars of the cell. The shadow gave him a transparent grin and opened a single glowing, cyan hued eye.

Kyle stared.

 ** _"_** ** _My name is Lord Shade, if you hadn't already guessed. I heard that you were planning on leaving the castle, is that right?"_**

Clenching his fists, Kyle stood up, ready to defend himself from anything the shadow might try and throw at him. "Maybe."

The shadow laughed, and the resulting shiver down Kyle's spine was colder than any ice attack Stella had ever tried. **_"Look, it really doesn't matter to me if you're here or not. The only reason you're here to begin with is purely sentimental on the king's part,"_** The shadow frowned, rolling its shoulders. **_"But hey, if that's what he needs to stay motivated, then that's fine. I really don't care."_**

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "So you won't get in my way if I do leave?" he said, unsure if anything in his dreams could interfere with Dream Eater to begin with.

 ** _"_** ** _Not at all."_** The shadow grinned again. **_"No more than I already have."_**

"What are you talking about?"

The shadow's grin turned into a smirk. **_"Oh, nothing really. But honestly, you shouldn't be the one complaining."_**

"Why's that?" Kyle asked.

The shadow shook its head. **_"You're not the queen."_**

Kyle blinked.

 ** _"_** ** _Anyway, I think that about does it for this visit, hmm? Why don't you take a nap?"_** The shadow disappeared, and Kyle was enveloped in a bubble of darkness; without even a gasp of air, he couldn't—

Kyle's eyes blinked open, and he was awake once again.


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: There are allusions to past dubcon in this chapter. Nothing at all explicit, but I figured I'd warn for it just in case._

* * *

"So your own shadow talked to you?"

"I'm telling you, it said that it was called Lord Shade, right after I got a philosophy lecture from a ten-year-old kid. And I used to think these dreams were realistic…"

Kyle rubbed his eyes. It was all he really could do on a short walk in the early morning. All he knew was that although he was sorry to let Blue and Emmy go, he wouldn't be sorry about ridding his mind of the rest. _Especially_ the newest addition to the crazy dream crew.

"Well, we're almost there, so you won't have to deal with prison cells and talking shadows for much longer," Stella said.

"If it works, anyway," Kyle said.

"It'll work," Stella chirped. "I read up on Dream Eater practices. They have a ninety-nine percent success rate!"

"When have I ever been part of the ninety-nine percent?" Kyle muttered, but he smirked regardless.

She shook her head, smiling. "Never, my lord," she said with half-lidded eyes.

"Ugh, that's creepy, now I'm picturing you saying that to _that thing_." Kyle waved his hand as if to expel the mental image.

Stella laughed. "Sorry!"

The two of them rounded a corner and made their way into the Pokémon Center for the second time that week. Though considerably less crowded than it was the day before, the Center was still hosting many trainers and Pokémon, getting ready for the day's travels. And that meant that there were witnesses, again.

"People are going to start rumours," Kyle whispered.

Stella shook her head. "If something does show up, we'll pretend that we're here for me, okay?"

"That hardly makes it better…" Kyle said, but before he could elaborate, the Chansey from the day before appeared in the waiting area, clipboard in hand once again.

"Mr. Shade! If you would please follow me!" she said, beckoning him with her fragile pink arm. Kyle nodded, and with Stella in tow, they made their way down the hall.

They were led into a different room with huge, bizarre looking machines that took up at least half of the space available. There were cables connecting the machines to monitors all over the place, as well as a single, tiny bed. A Drowzee smiled at Kyle, her narrow eyes and beady pupils sending a small chill down his spine.

"This is May. She'll be performing Dream Eater today," Chansey said, nodding to the Drowzee. "The doctor will be here in just a moment."

Chansey scurried away, leaving Kyle and Stella in the creepy psychic's vicinity.

"There is no need to be worried," said May the Drowzee. "I am an expert."

Hearing her say that didn't make things any better. (Did it ever?) Kyle glanced at Stella, watching as she bit her lip. Half an hour to an hour. He could do this.

"All right then," the doctor said, walking in, "let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

It hadn't been an eventful dream. Not even Kari was there to watch him.

"Is that it, then?" Kyle asked, sitting up.

The doctor frowned, looking over a monitor. "Well…"

The Drowzee smiled. "You weren't dreaming."

"What?" Kyle looked at Stella, alarmed. "Uh, yes I was?"

The Drowzee shook her head. "There was nothing to eat."

"I'm afraid she's right." The dream doctor held her chin in her hand. "Perhaps there was a problem with the medication…"

"Hold on, what are you talking about?" Kyle said, blinking.

"The readings seem to indicate that you never fell asleep at all." The doctor turned the computer monitor to show him. Kyle wasn't sure what all the jagged lines meant, but they had a consistent pattern. "Your brain activity remained that of a conscious Pokémon's."

Kyle leaned his face closer to the monitor. "…I wasn't _faking being asleep_."

"We weren't trying to imply that," the doctor said quickly.

"Are you sure there's not a problem with the equipment?" Stella asked, giving Kyle a meaningful look.

"Absolutely. We'll need to schedule some tests to determine exactly what's happening," The doctor frowned. "I'm sorry about the treatment not working."

Kyle stared at the monitor, then at the doctor, and then at the monitor again. He swore.

"There you go." He threw his arms into the air. "That's me. _One percent_."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Little asked, staring up at him.

"No," Kyle muttered.

"What's wrong?" Little tilted his head.

Kyle shook his head. "I haven't been able to sleep for a while."

"Oh," Little said. "Grandma says that when you can't sleep, you should make a list of everything you should be thankful for in your head."

"Oh yeah?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. After a while, you'll get so bored, you'll fall asleep without even trying," Little said.

"Hm," Kyle said, wide eyed.

Little grinned. "It always works for me!"

Kyle grimaced. "I see. My problem is more about staying asleep than actually falling asleep, though."

"Oh, I don't know, then," Little said.

Kyle nodded. "That's okay."

He watched Little play with his hands, cracking each of his knuckles in a way that only Kevin could have taught him. One by one, his son's tiny fingers flexed, and with each passing second Kyle had to resist the urge to—

To _what_?

It wasn't like cracking knuckles was one of his pet peeves or anything, he really couldn't care less about that. So… it was the silence?

The silence. Uncomfortable and unfathomable. The kind that only happened between estranged fathers and their teenage children, not… estranged fathers and their not yet teenage children. It wasn't supposed to be awkward between them, but if he didn't even understand his own kid, or even make an effort to, well, then that would never change, would it?

All right. Project _Make Friends With Little_ started now.

"Um…" Little said. "When's the bird gonna get here?"

"Our pilot should be here any minute." Kyle sighed in relief. At least Little seemed more sociable than Kyle had been as a child.

"Why do you call them pilots?" Little asked, frowning.

Kyle shrugged. "That's what they are. And it's more respectful than calling them birds."

"Is it?" Little said, scrunching up his face.

"Are you fine with people calling you a monkey?" Kyle smirked.

"Yeah," Little said.

"Okay then, how about 'freak'?" Kyle folded his arms.

Little shook his head, groaning. "That's not the same thing. That's an insult, and I'm not a freak."

"But in some people's eyes, you might be. Does that still make it okay?" Kyle asked.

"No, because they're wrong," Little bit his cheek. "But you can't be wrong about someone being a bird."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. Little had a point there.

"I'm going to ask him," Little said, pointing to Fabian of the Pidgeot Express, who had just appeared in their line of sight. Since the Pidgeot flew at speeds of Mach two, Kyle was unable to process what Little was doing and stop him before it was too late.

"Thank you for using the Pidgeot Express! I'm Fab—"

"Do you care if people call you a bird?" Little asked.

Fabian chuckled. "Not at all, kiddo."

"See?" Little said pointedly as he proceeded to climb up onto his ride's back.

Kyle blinked.

* * *

"Here's our stop, Mount Chimney! Have fun, you guys!" Fabian took off, turning into a golden bullet in the sky.

Right. Fun. Nausea was fun.

"So… where is she?" Little asked.

He felt cold, for once, even with his sweater. There wasn't a breeze, or a chill, or rain. They were standing at the base of a volcano and he was cold. And about to throw up.

"Um…" Kyle stared at the mountain, his eyes critical. She had been at the bottom when they had met, picking apples for someone that she worked for. It had been kind of dark then, though, and he barely remembered anything about that night, let alone the directions to her place. So they would have to ask. Asking required talking, and talking required _not throwing up_.

Little narrowed his eyes. "You don't know?"

"I just don't remember exactly where." Kyle grasped Little's tiny hand and strode forward. "I've only been here once. We'll just ask someone."

"Will they know?" Little said, a sliver of doubt creeping into his voice.

Kyle nodded. "The clan on this mountain is smaller than Stark's, and everyone knows everyone there. It's probably like that here, too."

"Probably doesn't mean for sure," Little said.

"Right, it means probably. Don't worry about it." Kyle stepped onto the worn path that humans usually took up the mountain. He was too shaky to even attempt the natural path up, especially with a seven-year-old.

He swore to himself when he heard the people around him muttering. He was so used to taking trips to Stark Mountain without any problems that he'd forgotten the population of Hoenn wasn't used to his presence. And now he was being pointed and stared at, which would have been bad enough _without_ Little's conspicuous presence. He was going to have a rough time dispelling rumours when he got back.

 _Rumours_? These weren't rumours, these were facts. There was nothing to dispel. He really needed to start thinking properly.

"They're talking about us," Little commented.

"That's what happens when you're famous." Kyle sent a quick glare towards a tourist taking a picture of them with her phone.

Little pursed his lips. "If you don't like it, why did you start walking in front of all these people?"

A muscle in Kyle's neck tightened. "Because sometimes people do things without thinking, Little."

"Oh," Little said. They brushed past a group of chattering humans. "Do you do that a lot?"

He chose to ignore Little's question, instead shifting his focus to a muscled Chimchar who had just darted behind an outcrop several feet up the mountain. "Hey! _You, Chimchar!"_

The Chimchar stopped reluctantly. He sent a scowl down at them, which Kyle shrugged off.

 _"_ _Yeah, yeah, I'm a terrible person, whatever. I'm looking for someone named Vera."_ Somehow, her name didn't add as much to Kyle's nausea as he thought.

 _"_ _That low class slut? Why would you want to see her?"_ the Chimchar sneered.

Oh _no_.

He would normally respond with "I have my reasons", but that would sound terrible in the current context. _"She supports the Shades."_

The Chimchar raised an eyebrow. _"East side, the one with the flowers of daybreak right beside it."_

 _"_ _Thank you,"_ Kyle said as he strode forward.

 _"_ _Have fun getting your 'support', Shade,"_ the Chimchar called, a deadly smirk on his face. Well, so much for that.

Kyle growled. "I hate them," he said in a low voice.

Little stared at his feet.

* * *

"The flowers of daybreak" were actually magnolia blossoms and not sunflowers as Kyle had initially thought. It didn't matter in the end, though, since Vera's recess in the mountain was the only one with any sort of personalization to it. The magnolia was planted in a small pot that looked handmade, and various designs had been etched into the softer red rocks along with tiny, vague words like "hope" and "dream". Kyle frowned. He should have remembered a place like this.

Little peered inside the opening. "Hey, anyone home?"

There was a dull sound of shifting weight. "I'm not working today," a voice said, though it sounded unconvinced.

"Hey, she speaks English." Little grinned. Kyle grimaced. Why Little constantly misused the word English in place of human was a mystery to him.

"We're just visitors," Kyle said, suddenly aware of his erratic heartbeat.

"I don't like—" Footsteps, and then a shadowed figure, her hand placed gingerly at the crevice's opening. "Oh, uh—"

Kyle blinked. Her fingers clenched. _"Life of the sun,"_ she whispered.

"Hi, Vera. Um, sorry for the unexpected visit, but, uh, I've got someone here who really wants – needs – to meet you. So, uh, Little, this is Vera."

Little nodded. "Hi."

"Hello," Vera said, her face still in shadow.

"Right. Vera, this is Little. He's, well—"

A crushing thought hit him – what if he was wrong and Vera wasn't Little's mother and this entire thing was ultimately inconsequential—

"Dad says that you're my mom," Little chirped.

Well.

Kyle caught the whites of her eyes flash. " _What_?!"

"It's a long story," Kyle said hurriedly. "But… yes. I believe that Little is our son."

Vera appeared to stagger back, the soft glow from her tail flame coming into view. He could hear her breathing, forced and heavy, as if she was about to cry. In all likelihood, she probably was.

"Come in," she squeaked after a long pause.

The two boys clambered through the crooked opening into Vera's humble abode, which seemed to be a mere single room about half the size of the main room at Headquarters. A raised slab in the back appeared to be her bed, surrounded by fresh fruit and dried flowers. The room was warm and the scents were inviting. Kyle's first instinct was to grab one of the apples and devour it. Maybe that was déjà vu talking. (Even though he couldn't remember?)

"Are you sure?" Vera said, her arms wrapped around her torso. Her gray eyes were cool and piercing, even with the dark bags under them.

"Uh—" Kyle's eyes widened. "I think so. He looks just like me—"

"And the entirety of the upper class," Vera said.

"But he acts like me, too—"

"Oh, so he's nothing like I am, then."

"What?"

"If he's nothing like me, how can he be my son?"

"Wh— Hey!"

"I don't have a son! I'm not married! But I got pregnant anyway, and I had my egg, and my mother told me that she'd 'take care of it' and I never saw it again! But then I was Vera the baby-killing slut and the queen herself told me that she was disgusted with me! In public! And now, I have horrible men come to my door every night, telling me it's okay, they like dirty, disgusting women like me, and I—!"

She shook, exhaling screeching sobs before collapsing. Kyle was too stunned to do anything but watch her pitiful, broken body continue to cry. Little inched forward, but Vera didn't seem to notice.

"If I had just— had a little more control, then none of this would have happened, and I'd be fine, probably married, and—" She shook her head. "My baby wouldn't be dead."

At this, Little grabbed her hand. "My birthday is March 22nd."

Vera looked up, her face pallid and covered in tears. "What?"

"My birthday is March 22nd. Two days ago. My uncle found me as an egg on this mountain. He said I was abandoned or something. I guess I don't look much like you, but we probably have some things in common, right?" Little released her hand.

Vera stared at him, then at Kyle.

Kyle coughed. "Yeah, he does that. Um…"

Her forearm was still trembling.

"I may not have much evidence that he's your son, but I have tons that he's mine. And you're the only person I could have had a kid with. So he has to be yours, too." Kyle tried his best to stay serene. "But I'm really sorry for what I've done to your life. You really don't deserve this."

"You—you didn't do anything wrong, though, I took advantage of you!" Vera said in alarm.

"I'd like to think that I had some fault in it," Kyle muttered darkly.

Vera's eyes widened again. "Oh! I… I see…"

She stared at him, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. He shuddered.

Comforting her felt weird and foreign, a hundred times worse than being in the dungeons in dreamland. Maybe… Maybe Kari was right, and he was treating her too nicely for what she did. But if he shifted all the blame on her, that would mean that he'd have to accept something else that he _really didn't want_ to accept. And it really hadn't been like that, had it? She was… the both of them were good people. Good people who had run into some unfortunate circumstances. That was all.

"Look. Regardless of what happened, Little's here now. We have a son. He's sitting right in front of you, alive and well. Okay?" Kyle said, crossing his arms.

"Okay," She nodded. "I… Okay."

She stared at Little, slowly reaching out to touch his arm. Little's fur seemed to bristle slightly, but he didn't pull away. She pat his arm lightly before letting him go.

Kyle bit his lip. "Okay then."

"I apologize for my outburst. I haven't been feeling well lately," Vera said.

"It's okay, you were upset," Little said.

She smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"I didn't think you'd be a good person," Little said, "but you're actually okay."

Vera laughed awkwardly. "Um, thank you?"

Good. This was perfect, nice, calm, civil. For once, the cosmos had aligned in Kyle's favour and presented him with an outcome that wasn't completely terrible. He could get used to that.

"Dad?" Little asked.

"Yeah?" Kyle said, smiling slightly.

"I want to stay here for a while."

Kyle faltered, and he had to adjust his stance. "Uh, is that really a good idea?"

"I don't know Mom at all," Little said. "At least Uncle Slickky told me stuff about you."

"Yeah, but—"

Vera spoke up. "Mr. Shade, I know you don't trust me, and you have every reason not to, but believe me when I say that I will not let any harm come to our son. I… I know what losing him feels like already."

She sat up straight, a different woman than the one who had been crying. Little grinned.

"Please?"

Kyle sighed. Kevin would murder him.

"Okay. Let's try one day. No goofing off or going on your own. And Fabian has to be watching," Kyle said.

"I thought you hated him," Little said.

"That is irrelevant. I'll be back tomorrow." Kyle took a breath. "Okay?"

"Okay! Thanks Dad!" Little said.

"Thank you, Mr. Shade." Vera sighed.

"Um… You're welcome."

He turned to leave. She shot up from her spot on the floor, stopping right behind him. He turned around and gave her a questioning look.

She looked at him, jaw clenched, and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry."

Kyle winced. "So am I."

"It was mostly me—"

He shook his head to cut her off. "No. There was a reason I came up and talked to you in the first place. And it wasn't right."

Vera blinked, her eyes pained. "I'm just… I'm so sorry. I got caught up in the idea that you of all people were actually _interested_ and… You don't hate me, do you?"

"No," Kyle said. He frowned.

"Good, because… for his sake," Vera glanced quickly at Little, "I think we should try to… I don't know…"

"Be normal, with each other?" Kyle said. "I agree."

She nodded. "All right. See you tomorrow, Mr. Shade."

"Right. Bye," he said.

"Bye," Little mumbled, giving Kyle a small wave.

And Kyle left, the waves of his nausea finally ceasing.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hi!" Stella said cheerily as he dismounted his second Pidgeot that day.

"Hi," Kyle said, raising an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, just that you're back, and I have cupcakes for a certain someone's birthday that we forgot to eat!" She grinned.

"Oh. Um…"

She blinked, then glanced around. "Wait, where's Little?"

Kyle blinked. "With his mother."

Stella's jaw dropped.

"He insisted," Kyle said, eyebrows furrowed, "and she's not a terrible person. I made Fabian watch—"

"Boss, I know you're his father, but—" Stella pawed the ground. "You – you can't just – You need to tell your brother before you start handing Little off to strangers!"

"Kevin told me to accept responsibility. That means—"

"You're accepting responsibility by letting someone else look after your son?" Stella stretched up to give him a steady look in the eye.

"I—"

"What were you thinking?!"

His shoulders drooped. She took an audible breath, gritting her teeth as she turned her head away. His insides felt strangled, as if they would burst that very second. She narrowed her eyes at the landscape that she wasn't really looking at.

"Maybe… Maybe we should get Kevin to teach you how to be a parent." Stella shot a look at him before quickly turning away again.

Kyle looked down and raised an eyebrow at the ground. "If he doesn't knock my lights out first."

Stella winced. "I can tell him for you."

"That would be nice, but he thinks you're an unreliable ditz," Kyle mumbled. He crossed his arms. "You're not, but first impressions hold strong, I guess."

She nodded. "Right."

 _You leaked it. Get out before I kill you._

Kyle sighed. "You know that I'd never really fire you, right?"

"Boss," Stella whined, "that's really not what you should be apologizing for right now!"

"I know." Kyle walked down the entrance to Headquarters. Sometimes he wished that it were as easy to obtain everyone else's forgiveness as it was hers.

* * *

"Why am I not surprised?" Kevin paced around the main room. "No, really! I was just telling Kari, you were going to mess this up somehow. And you did! In the most spectacular fashion, you did!"

"Glad to see that I instil your confidence," Kyle said, his face buried in his hand and his body buried in his couch. "Little wouldn't say no, so I got Fabian to watch. It'll be okay."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because Fabian is a great babysitter. Seriously, though, how many times did you tell Little no, once? Because he'll give in to authority if you explain why his ideas are bad." A dull slump, and Kevin had come to a stop, leaning over onto the couch cushions.

Kyle flicked his eyes upward. "I don't think Little operates on normal logic."

"Well, duh, that's why you use his weird offbeat reasoning against him. Did you even talk to him like I told you to?" Kevin shook his head.

"Look, Kevin, you can come with me to pick him up tomorrow, and then you can meet Vera, and you'll see that she's not some psycho and that Little is fine, all right?" Kyle snapped. He crunched his body even more compactly into the couch.

"Vera?" Kevin's eyebrows shot up. " _That's_ her name? That doesn't sound like a clan name at all."

"Maybe you can ask her about it," Kyle said. He could almost feel the poison dripping off his tongue.

Kevin chuckled darkly. "Oh, yeah, I'd love to get to know her, maybe over a couple glasses of apple spritz? Of course, that's not a good idea, because then I'll develop amnesia and discover my own mystery kid a few years down the road, right?"

Kyle growled.

Kevin drummed his fingers on the couch. "Here's what I'm gonna tell her, all right? I'm sure you're a nice lady, ma'am, but I'm afraid that I just can't trust a seductress with taking care of my nephew. That's why I'm taking him home to Petalburg Woods where he belongs. Feel free to visit, though, his dad will."

"You're taking him, huh? Non-negotiable?" Kyle frowned. He couldn't really figure out how to feel about that, exactly.

"Obviously. Even if you were any good at taking care of him, how would you manage, with your job? Being the Shade is your life, twenty-four seven," Kevin said, and for the first time, Kyle detected the tiniest bit of pity in his brother's voice.

"I'd make time," Kyle said.

Kevin shrugged. "He's happy with me, though. He always has been. I think he'd feel like a burden if he stayed with you."

"So we'll just conveniently ignore the fact that he wants to get to know his parents, then?" Kyle said, his voice sharp. "What if he wants to stay?"

"What he wants isn't necessarily what he needs." Kevin left the couch, heading towards the entrance. "Same goes for you."

He waited until Kevin left before he dared let his eyes water.

How was it that in the space of two days, Kyle had gone from being vaguely apprehensive of Little to someone who was legitimately— Betrayed, hurt, confused? He didn't even want to take care of a child, at the very least not in his kind-of-single kind-of-not relationship right now. He had barely ever given Little a second thought for years, even though he had always known, in the back of his mind, that he probably should have. So why was – why was letting life proceed as normal so hard?

 _I can't take care of him._

Kyle hated addressing his own mind.

 _No, I can't. If he's here, then everyone on the Shades is going to take care of him, not me. And the only Shade who knows a thing about raising kids is that rat._

Chuno wasn't a Shade. He hadn't been a Shade for eleven years.

 _The press will traumatize him. They'll ask about Vera. Perpetuate the idea that she—_

He winced.

 _I need a nap. A nice, long—_

"Get! Up!" a little girl screeched in his ear.

Kyle shuddered, suddenly finding himself face first on the sandy ground, deliriously wondering how on earth he managed to will himself to sleep so quickly. His arm yanked forward, and he looked up, staring into a pair of stern, green eyes.

"Emmy, what—" He saw a flash of fire envelop the corridor briefly before it died away. "Damn, is the castle on fire or something?"

"Nah, don't worry, that's just Blue. Come on, we've gotta hurry!" Emmy tugged at his arm again, pulling him in the direction of a melted, distorted gap in the bars that had been keeping him in the same place every night for the past few months.

He blinked, stumbling over himself to fit through the Chimchar-sized hole. "Uh… are we…?"

"Told you we'd help you get out, didn't we?" Emmy grinned. "Thanks for coming back, by the way."

Kyle grimaced for a second. "Don't mention it."

Emmy nodded. "Okay, so while Blue's battling the guards, we're going to go up the stairs, right, right, left, through the secret passage, right, down, double back a bit, then straight to the tower, okay? And once you're safe, Blue and I will make a hole in the wall so it'll look like you took off into the desert—"

"Whoa, whoa!" Kyle raised his hands. "Hold on a minute!"

"We don't have a minute! Blue said— Blue said we need to take matters into our own hands, and that means that we're going to save you, got it? So come on, move it!" She made a sweeping wave with her arm and took off down the unscorched end of the corridor, calling for him to follow.

Kyle shook his head. Really? He couldn't even get some downtime in that stupid cell? He took a deep breath and, using his every will to quell the flashbacks involving failure and Kari, he pursued his dream niece down the hall.

They reached the steps, Kyle managing to outpace Emmy by taking two at a time. It figured, speed was always his thing. He scooped Emmy up in his arms, wincing. She wasn't Kari.

"I'm fast, okay? Tell me where to go again?" Kyle said.

Emmy nodded, nerves clearly taking over her initial adrenaline rush. "Uh, right! You go right twice and then left!"

He ran, letting Emmy clamber onto his back. Her tiny arms encircled his neck, holding on with a surprisingly strong grip. As he raced past the grandiose cobblestone walls, he couldn't help but think that Emmy would have been a lot more comfortable had he been wearing his sweater. She'd fit right in the hood, or at least be cushioned by it.

"That's the right!" Emmy pointed to a small archway that they had just passed. Kyle halted, backing up a few steps, and then sprinted through, hoping that his stamina would last long enough. He was fast, sure, but rarely did he run for more than a minute or two.

The next right was harder to miss, since the ornate doors were rather prominent against the gray walls. Kyle wrenched the doors open and Emmy directed him down a curving hallway for the left turn. After a few moments of running, he felt her fist clench around his fur.

"This is it, behind the painting!" Emmy said.

Kyle looked at the enormous painting that covered a section of the hall from top to bottom. It was a grand portrait, like one of an ancient king or something, but instead of a human, a ragged, nightmarish black Pokémon sat on the golden throne, its bright blue eye—

"Go!" Emmy yelled at him, pushing him into the wall. Kyle stumbled, but instead of getting a face full of canvas, he had gone beyond the painting and into a dark, dank passageway, the only light being the flames on their tails. The floor was cold beneath their feet, and it smelled musty.

Emmy relaxed, and walked ahead of him, her hand beckoning. "Okay, we can rest for a few minutes, but keep moving."

Kyle glanced behind him at what appeared to be a dead end to the tunnel. "How did we do that?"

"It's an illusion. Every painting of him is," Emmy said.

Oh, right, of course. Because now was the time for his dreams to start acting like dreams. "'Him' being…?"

"The lord," Emmy said, her voice quieting. "It's how he watches us."

Kyle blinked. "The lord? But when I saw him, he looked like me."

Unless Kyle hadn't gotten a good enough look at the painting, he was pretty sure that Lord Shade was his shadow with a cyan eyeball, and not… whatever that wannabe grim reaper thing was. The painting did have an unsettling blue eye, though…

Emmy shuddered. "Oh, I hate when he does that! It's so much better when he's just a voice." She frowned, biting her lip. "Dad says that he really looks like the guy in the paintings, but he only shows himself like that if you're worthy or something."

"So you've never actually seen him like that?" Kyle asked.

"No. Well, Blue says we did, once, but I was a baby so I don't remember. I don't _want_ to remember something like that, though." She gripped her arms.

Wait… hadn't there been something else that had happened when she was a baby…?

Kyle opened his mouth only to be interrupted by Blue bursting out of a nearby wall, covered in cuts, bruises, and dirt. "Blue!" he said in alarm, but his nephew didn't look at him.

"Em, the lord will be here in five minutes, you'd better run!" Blue winced.

Emmy squeaked and ran around to Kyle's back, climbing up it once again. "Okay, run a little farther, then get out at the right!"

"Good luck," Blue wheezed, slipping out of the corridor.

Kyle started to run as Emmy explained. "If the lord sees us in his secret passageways, everything's over."

"Everything?" Kyle said quickly, running through the blank wall that Emmy gestured at and emerging in front of a painting on the other, better-lit side. He wondered exactly how much mercy Lord Shade showed disobedient children.

He felt her nod. "He kind of wants you to die."

Kyle grimaced. "Lovely. He can get in line."

Emmy tensed. "We don't have time to double back, so just go down here and run, okay?"

Kyle nodded, stepping down a few stairs to a homey, quaint-looking wooden door. He opened it, and down a long, windowed straightaway was what had to be his final destination: another door like the first, but painted a brilliant shade of wine red. He ran ahead, not bothering to pay attention to anything else in the hallway but the door. Emmy smiled at his shoulder.

"All right!" Emmy leapt off of him and heading towards the right corner. She pried off a piece of the stone wall, revealing a brass key in its place. She grinned, picked it up, and held it out for him to take.

Kyle had to admit, Blue and Emmy were a hell of a lot better at escape plans than he and Kari ever could have been. He took the key in his hand.

"Go in there and hide, okay? Lock the door behind you. We'll be back really soon, I promise!" Emmy saluted him before scurrying off to wherever the hell she needed to be. Kyle breathed a sigh of amusement, his heart still pumping. This really was one hell of a crazy dream. He inserted the key into the door's lock, opening it with a creak.

"Oh! You're here! You're supposed to hide—" The soft voice faltered. "Mr. Shade?"

Kyle blinked. "Vera?!"


	9. Chapter 9

He really never thought he'd feel so awkward again, so soon. Today would go down in history as the day he wanted to _give him a break already_.

"You're the prisoner?" Vera's grip was tight, holding a black cloak that draped over her shoulders. "But that's not… You're actually…"

Kyle squinted at her. He closed the door behind him slowly to give himself time to look at her properly. She looked almost exactly the same as she had hours ago, only better rested, less stressed, healthier. And yet, even Dream-Vera seemed terrified of him…

Wait a second.

"Did you just call me—"

"Mr. Shade! It—it _is_ you, right?" Relief washed over her face. "Oh, finally, somebody I actually know in this crazy place!"

"I…" Kyle stepped closer. "You know me as Mr. Shade?"

"Yes!" Vera clapped her hands together.

"So you know what the Shades are, and you don't think that the idea of Pokémon speaking like humans is weird?" Kyle asked.

Vera nodded. "Of course! …Why do you ask?" Her expression suddenly became much more suspicious.

Kyle scoffed. "Because you're the only one here who seems to be grounded in reality." He shook his head. "Figures that you'd be the only real one in these stupid dreams."

Spotting a very comfortable looking, crimson covered bed behind Vera, Kyle walked around her and plopped down on the mattress. He stretched out his leg, grunting. His muscles were sore from the previous marathon, and they probably would be for a while.

"Dreams?" Vera's eyebrows knotted.

"Yeah, you're real, whatever," Kyle muttered, switching to his other leg.

Vera inched closer, adjusting the cloak around her shoulders. "You're dreaming right now? That's how you got here?"

Kyle eyed her. "Yes."

She blinked. "Oh… Me too."

Kyle stared, wide eyed. "What?!"

"I get it now," Vera said. "You must be the other one he brought back."

"Brought ba—"

"VERA!" came a muffled shout from outside the room.

"Ah, right! You've got to hide! Here!" She strode across the room and opened the cabinets of a polished wooden vanity. There were a few other black cloaks inside. "Just stay in here for a minute, and give me the key, I need to lock the door."

There was no time to argue. He handed her the key and climbed inside the cabinet, Vera shutting the doors extremely closely behind him. He barely heard the lock on the bedroom door click before it was jostled, followed by some frustrated mumbling. A few seconds of rustling, and the wooden door creaked open again, allowing someone to trample in the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Vera," Kyle heard Overlord say, his tone much softer. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. A few steps, and a quick thump. "I— Kevin!"

"Good. That's what I hoped." His voice was soft and muffled. He must've… hugged her? "Listen. I don't want to worry you, but the prisoner got out of his cell today."

Kyle wondered what Vera's expression was like. "Oh! Is everyone okay?"

"Most of the guards have severe burns, which is a bit odd, because he's never been very good at causing damage," Overlord said. He breathed, seeming to release Vera. "But he did it, for sure. He left the Torterra unscathed. He said he was really fond of her."

"She's the one you leave the children with, right?" Vera said.

"Uh— Yes. Speaking of the children… apparently they witnessed him breaking one of the castle walls and running away, but I'm positive that that was just a decoy, and he's really still in here somewhere, because there's no way he could have gotten away so fast with all the sand. And that's why I came straight here, to make sure you— You're really all right?"

God, he actually sounded normal when talking to her, right down to the exasperated soft-as-pudding falter that made its way into his voice whenever he was the least bit unsure of himself. And yet… there was something in those weird, not-quite-casual words that made him seem off.

"I'm fine," Vera repeated.

"Okay… okay." The king took another breath. "Because Blue's not. It looks like Kyle hurt him quite badly."

"What?" There was genuine alarm in Vera's voice. "How could he—"

"I don't know! If he made anything clear to me all those years ago, it was that he actually cared about his family—"

The overlord cut himself off with a quiet swear. Vera stayed silent.

"The prisoner is my brother," the king said, slightly above a whisper. "He does have some… _animosity_ towards me, I admit. But I never thought that he'd hurt someone he considered innocent. So unless Blue provoked him, I just…"

Vera's voice was curt. "You put your own brother in jail."

"He isn't right," Overlord said abruptly. "His mind's gone to pieces and he can't remember anything."

"Like me," Vera said.

"No, not like you! You're remembering, little by little!" He seemed desperate. "You told me that you remembered my face!"

"I said I thought I saw it before. And now I know where," she muttered. "But it's not fair to treat people selectively. I shouldn't be up here when you're throwing your family in prison."

"But, Vera—"

"If you're going to say 'I love you', then stop. You should love your brother too, and even if you don't, that doesn't give you the right to treat him terribly!"

" _Vers_ —"

"I am not the only person in the world who matters!"

Overlord sighed.

"I will never cease to be amazed at your capacity for kindness. It is truly the most beautiful thing about you."

Vera said nothing.

The door opened again. "I really do love you, you know. No matter what I may say when Lord Shade is around."

The door closed, the lock clicked, and Vera heaved a heavy sigh. So that was how it was.

"Sorry about that." She opened the cabinet. Kyle slid out, rolling his shoulders. "Was that true?"

"Was what true?" Kyle asked, stretching his limbs.

Vera's eyes were cold. "Did you hurt Blue?"

Kyle looked up, incredulous. "Uh, no? Blue was fighting the guards while I escaped."

"Hmph." Vera crossed her arms. "Still, that would mean that he got hurt because of you."

"Are you serious right now?" A jolt of anger shot through Kyle's body. "I didn't ask him to do anything for me – in fact, I discouraged it! But Blue and Emmy decided to break me out anyway, because they like me that much. I— I would _never_ …"

He bit his tongue. Brushing past her to the other side of the room, he started to scour the walls, the floors, and everything else.

"So, what's the next step, another secret passage?" He didn't want to look at her.

Vera made a disapproving noise. "There's no secret passage in here. I've looked. We're supposed to wait for the kids to come up here."

"We?" Kyle whipped around.

"Yes, we. I'm a prisoner, too." She glared.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Sure. That's why you're in here," Kyle threw his arms up to gesture at the elaborate room. "It must be so hard being the queen, your majesty!"

He couldn't imagine why Lord Shade had felt sorry for her.

Vera growled. "Excuse you! At least he leaves you alone, and doesn't keep questioning you about— about nonexistent dates and nonexistent children and significant parts of your life that never happened!"

"He's not writing you off as mentally unhinged—"

"He doesn't have his arms wrapped around you in bed every night—"

"Mom!"

Blue's hand grazed the door lightly. He seemed to be holding onto it for the tiniest bit of support. His other hand held an icepack to his temple. Kyle was amazed that he somehow looked even worse than before.

Vera shuddered. "Blue…"

"I'm fine, Mom, I did a lot of these to myself," he said, and as if to prove it, he strode inside, making his steps all but light. Emmy followed in behind him, watching his feet. "Anyway, please try not to yell, because if we get caught, we'd have done all this for nothing."

She winced.

"That means you, too." Emmy glanced at Kyle.

Kyle shrugged. "Sorry." He felt like arguing more, but that would have been childish.

"Okay then. Now that that's all settled." Blue tossed the icepack onto the bed and stood up straight. "Part two of the plan is to get to the lord's chamber, where we'll take the teleporter out of here. All clear?"

"I'm sorry, he has a _teleporter_?" Kyle asked. "I thought this place was medieval."

Blue gave him a puzzled look. "Um… is it that weird? Anyway, there's no telling how long it'll take to get it to work, so if I have to stay behind and fight, I will—"

"No!" Vera said before Kyle had the chance to.

"You're not going to change my mind, Mom. Look, this is as much an escape for you as it is for Emmy and me. I'm prepared for do or die. I just can't stand doing nothing anymore!" His eyes narrowed, both in pain and in determination. "I know you don't remember, Mom, but you always told me to do what I think is right. And I think it's right to get you and Uncle Kyle out of here. Today."

Kyle could have sworn that he was watching his brother.

Blue breathed. "The chamber is hard to find. We've been tracking it for a while and it looks like it keeps moving around the castle. If it hasn't moved from where it was earlier today, then it should be right behind the balcony on the south side. We'll have to be quick, but we should be able to make it without anyone catching on."

"And if it has moved, then we go to Plan B," Emmy said.

"Right. Plan B is to actually escape through the desert," Blue said.

"Dad's suspicious and doesn't think that you actually left that way, so it'll be like reverse psychology or whatever." Emmy looked up at Kyle.

"Hopefully we won't have to resort to that, though. We don't really have any supplies for a journey across the desert," Blue said. "Uncle Kyle doesn't need to eat, though, and I don't think Mom does either…"

"No, I don't," Vera said quietly.

Blue nodded. "Right. So if worst comes to worst, we might still be okay. But right now, let's focus on getting to the lord's room."

Blue marched past them and opened the door, with Emmy gesturing Kyle and Vera to follow him. Making his way to the nearest window, he squinted down through the glass and frowned.

"The quickest way is probably over the roof…"

Blue placed his palms on the window, fingers spread, and watched as the glass started to warp, creating distortions on top of the ripples that were already there from the heat—

"Hey!" Blue cried as Kyle snatched him and pulled him away from the window.

"Don't do that," Kyle said darkly, eyeing the hand shaped impressions in the glass.

"What? I'm just melting the glass." Blue pulled away from Kyle's grip. "It's fine."

"No. You broke down a whole wall earlier, just do that again." Kyle started patting the wall beside the window. A few of the stones were loose, like the one Emmy had pulled out to reveal the key to Vera's room.

"Yeah, and I nearly broke my knuckles, too." Blue massaged his left fist.

Kyle frowned, his face hard. "I'd take a few broken knuckles to a hundred battle scars."

Blue rolled his eyes. "Says the guy who doesn't have a scar anywhere on his entire body. Fine, if we're going to break a wall, then you're going to help me!"

"Or you could just throw something heavy at the window," Emmy said.

Blue blinked, shrugged, and then darted back into Vera's room, emerging a moment later with one of the side tables hitched onto his back. With a bit of a struggle, he said, "You're still helping me!"

Kyle grimaced. "I… All right, as long as everyone stays as far away from the window as possible—"

"The glass is going to fall on the other side, there's nothing to worry abou—"

"There's still going to be glass in the frame, and that's just as dangerous—"

"Uncle Kyle, seriously! What's your problem?! Just help me already!" Blue shouted.

"Here." Vera cut between them and eased the table off of Blue's back. "I'll do it."

Blue blinked. Kyle stared. "Uh… Okay," Blue said softly, staring at his mother wide-eyed.

She turned to Kyle and gave him a look of pity. It struck him that she had seen him without his sweater back in real life, and in a flash of embarrassment he scooped Emmy up and carried her down the hall, a good, safe, fifteen feet away from the window. Vera's expression softened into a smile.

Blue and Vera held the side table between them, Blue carrying most of the weight (he had very strong arms for a child). They counted to three, and then heaved it through the window, shattering it. The sickening sound slid down Kyle's spine, and he cringed.

"That was louder than I would have liked." Blue glanced down the hallway, as if he expected his father to show up.

"We're wasting time!" Emmy squirmed in Kyle's arms.

"Uh, right! Okay, everyone follow me, and, uh, be careful, I guess." Blue peeked his head through the newly created hole. Emmy hopped out of Kyle's arms only to scramble up onto her brother's shoulders instead. The two kids gingerly made their way onto the small outcropping on the castle's roof, Blue taking care not to step on the glass shards that hadn't fallen all the way down the tower. Calling them from outside, he said, "Come on, let's get going!"

Vera stepped out the window next relatively quickly after discarding the cloak around her shoulders, though she watched every movement her feet made. Kyle swallowed a lump in his throat and pried a particularly sharp looking shard of glass out from the window frame before climbing onto the roof, taking care to step with only his toes in case an invisible shard—

"For Arceus's sake!" Blue growled, shoving himself behind Kyle and pushing him on the back. "Go!"

"I hate glass," Kyle muttered, tiptoeing. "Why does this castle even have glass windows?"

Blue continued to push. "Well, I used to play on the roof as a kid, but I guess Dad thought that was too dangerous—"

"You think?" Kyle said.

"—so he got glass for the windows to keep me inside. It's kinda nice to be up here again, don't you agree, Em?"

"It's a little high…" Emmy shrunk into Blue's neck fur.

Vera, who was now leading the line, glanced behind her. "Where are we going, exactly?"

Blue stuck his head out from around Kyle. "The balcony on the South— That's the part above the front doors."

"I don't really know the castle's layout," Vera said, holding her arms.

"Um, straight, and kind of to the left," Blue said. "Look, I'll lead again if you push him."

"It's all right, you don't need to push me," Kyle said. They were out of the range of the shattered glass now, if the spot where the side table had landed below was any indication. He allowed Blue to step around him and resume his role as the leader, noticing a small cut on his tail.

"You cut yourself," Kyle said quietly. Blue didn't seem to hear him.

Their pace, while still relatively slow to avoid falling off the roof, picked up considerably. In maybe five minutes they had traversed most of the castle's top, and a few minutes after that, they found themselves above the balcony, in turn above the castle's front doors.

"Yikes, it looks like the lord brought backup," Emmy said.

Blue squinted at the various rock types in the sand. "That, or the whole desert got word of the commotion. Let's go in before they see us."

With admirable agility for someone so hurt (maybe he was a parkour master, Kyle had no idea), Blue hopped down onto the balcony and slipped into the shadows inside the castle. Vera climbed down a lot less confidently, muttering something about footholds. Kyle sighed and decided to try jumping down like Blue did. His ankles hated him for it.

"Damn." He shook out his feet, the impact vibrations coursing through his bones.

"This is it," Blue said. "The room's still here. Let's go."

Nodding, Kyle followed Blue through the open door and walked his way into a pitch-black void. He couldn't see anything, and even the flame on his tail was struggling to create light. As someone who had fire around him his entire life, he'd never seen anything so dark.

"This complicates the plan," Blue said, his voice echoing.

 _"_ _Ooh, what plan?"_ Two claps, and light came flooding into the void, although everything was still dimly lit. There was enough light to make out dozens of clocks, swirling, colourful vortexes, and a regal purple throne, upon which sat a green pixie with giant, unnerving cyan eyes.

 _"_ _Oh, nice, the zombies. We've been wondering where you went."_


	10. Chapter 10

_AN:_ _I really like this chapter! There's action and some of my favourite characters get a proper introduction here. Looking back, I think this is where the quality of this fic starts to improve, so I hope you enjoy it too!_

* * *

 _"Hi, I'm Lord Chronos."_ The fairy's mouth moved, but his voice sounded telepathic. _"Lady Greenwich is also acceptable."_

Blue quickly composed himself. "Um, okay. If you don't mind, we're just going to—"

 _"I mind."_ Lord Chronos's eyes glowed blue, and the door shut behind them.

Blue breathed. "Can't we negotiate?"

 _"I really didn't expect the crown prince to be so headstrong,"_ Lord Chronos mused, fluttering up from his throne. _"Then again, I never had enough timelines to create an accurate prediction. But you always seemed so submissive, just like mommy."_ The fairy looked up, his eyes half closed. _"How's mommy doing, by the way?"_

Vera shuddered. Lord Chronos smirked.

"We just want to get my mom and uncle back where they belong," Blue tried again. "Please. Just let them go home."

 _"There are much easier ways to accomplish that,"_ Lord Chronos said, his voice alit with incredulity. _"You could have just gotten a knife or something. It's not like your father doesn't have any lying around."_

Blue clenched his fists. "That's cruel."

 _"And you're soft. Honestly, I wish I could just go back and fix all the mistakes Shady made with this family, but we've made so much progress elsewhere…"_ His face clouded in disdain.

Kyle put a hand on Blue's shoulder. "Okay, look. Vera and I just want to get out of here. It sounds like you've all got a lot going on, but the two of us don't have anything to do with it, seeing as we're from a completely different universe called reality, all right? You don't need us here, so we'll just go—"

Lord Chronos laughed. _"Ha! First of all, don't talk like you know anything about the universe, because you don't. Second, of course you're important, otherwise you wouldn't be coming here every time you nod off to dreamland, got it? The king stationed here has mental health problems, and you zombies are supposed to be making him better."_ He finished by raising his eyebrow.

"Seriously, what's with the zombie thing?" Kyle muttered.

Lord Chronos stared. _"Ehh? Nobody told you?"_

Kyle blinked.

 _"You're dead! Well, not you, but the you who used that body, anyway. You're only here to make it act like the original. Reanimated corpses, Shady's invention. I think it's easier to just go with 'zombies', though."_ The fairy flipped around in the air, a knowing smile gracing his face.

"What—"

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you, Uncle Kyle," Blue said, "but Dad didn't think you'd take it too well if you found out that he brought you back to life."

"Don't worry, though, we'll get you and Mom back to heaven really soon!" Emmy piped up.

Kyle sighed. "Seriously? I'm not dead."

"Well, not anymore—"

"I'm not dead!" Kyle said. "I didn't come from heaven!"

"Obviously not," Emmy said. "There are too many problems where you live."

Kyle opened his mouth. "Back me up here?" he asked Vera.

Vera shook her head. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

 _"This is cute and all,"_ Lord Chronos said, _"but I'm still not letting you go anywhere."_

"Then I'll fight you!" Blue clenched his fists.

 _"Really? You may be a prodigy, kiddo, but you're kind of outmatched."_ The fairy grinned, his smile carving an intense indent in his cheek.

Blue shook his head. "No, we're even. I've got allies, and you're definitely a grass type."

Lord Chronos narrowed his large eyes. His black eyelids gave him a surprisingly intimidating mask. _"That may be true, but I'm also a psychic. Haven't you ever heard of brains over brawn?"_ His eyes shone blue again.

"It doesn't matter. You can't hurt us, because we're too important, but we can hurt you. So let us take the teleporter, or get burned!" Blue's fists ignited.

 _"Ugh,"_ Lord Chronos said. _"None of this stupid rebellion crap would be happening if Shady put me in charge of this family."_ He flew over to one of the walls and tapped it twice, causing it to flip over and reveal what looked like an intercom. Lord Chronos held down a button and spoke again.

 _"Yo, Shady. They're up here. Zombies and kids. Bring King Downer with you."_

"Argh!" Blue shot a swirl of flames at the fairy, who ducked out of the way just in time. The flames hit the intercom, which twisted into a mess of charred, black plastic. "Help me out!"

Kyle blinked. He… he really wasn't good at battling…!

"Emmy!"

Emmy darted out and sent a Flamethrower at Lord Chronos. The pixie managed to dodge it, his facial expression turning harsher by the second.

 _"Not a good idea, you two."_

Blue growled. "Cover me, I need a quick rest!" He nodded at Emmy.

Emmy spat some more fire at Lord Chronos, which grazed his feet as he flew away from it. _"I don't think so. No healing!"_

For a split second, the room seemed to go stark gray, and Blue stumbled over, coughing. "I—"

 _"It's called Heal Block, and it's a psychic technique."_ Lord Chronos's face scrunched up. _"Of course, Shady wouldn't have had you train against psychics, would he? It's just like him to completely ignore his defenses."_

Blue glared. Kyle did too, and stood up straighter. "Okay, this is going too far—"

An excruciating, burning headache suddenly overcame him, and he fell to the ground, crying out. Out of the corner of his eye he could make out Vera falling, too, and from the sounds of it, so had Blue and Emmy. It was like hundreds of tiny glass shards were boring their way into his skull, one by one, and then sprouting anew and repeating the process. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain stopped, and Kyle sat up, his breathing heavy.

 _"Future Sight,"_ Lord Chronos said calmly.

"You weren't supposed to hurt us," Blue seethed.

 _"I didn't, really. The pain was all in your head."_ The fairy smiled. _"But if you'd like, I can settle this with a Perish Song."_

Blue shuddered.

 _"It looks like I won't need to, though. Daddy's here."_ The fairy glanced to the side.

Much like how Blue had materialized in the secret passageway, the overlord emerged from a blank segment of the walls, his eyebrows contorted in confusion. Behind him slithered in the despicable shadow creature from the portraits, his blue eye jittering from behind his crimson, jaw-like ornament.

Overlord frowned, staring at Blue, then Vera, then at Lord Chronos. "What are they doing in here?"

 _"The crown prince decided to disobey his superiors,"_ Lord Chronos said in amusement. _"Can you believe it? He was going to bust the zombies out of here!"_

"What? But that's not—" Overlord shot a concerned glance towards his son. "He wouldn't do something like that!"

Lord Shade swept around the king. **_"He was talking to the prisoner yesterday."_**

Everyone in the room except Lord Chronos shivered.

Lord Shade eyed the room, coming to a stop once he saw the broken intercom. **_"Did the crown prince also cause this damage?"_**

The fairy nodded. _"Uh huh."_

The shadow snickered. **_"Nice work."_**

 _"Like that matters now."_ Lord Chronos rolled his eyes. _"We have no place for a traitor in our army!"_

 ** _"So we break him."_** Lord Shade's voice was almost bored.

"Hold on," Overlord said. "There's no need for that! He's probably just… acting out, because his mother is having trouble remembering him and his uncle's—"

 ** _"Quiet,"_** both the lords said in unison.

The overlord's voice died immediately and he stepped back, crossed his arms and looked down. Kyle almost felt sorry for him.

Lord Chronos glared at Blue. _"Do you really think that he's worth it?"_

Lord Shade nodded. **_"If we're attacking sooner rather than later, yes."_**

The fairy pursed his lips. _"Fine."_

Blue's fists clenched in his lap. His sister huddled beside him, attempting to give him some form of comfort. Kyle just watched them, wishing that he had the knowledge or skill to just _do_ something, to help them.

 ** _"Overlord of the Orréan Deserts, why don't you return your brother to his cell?"_** Lord Shade said.

Overlord looked up. "Of course, my lord. What about…" he trailed off, blinking at Vera.

 _"I think we'll keep her here for just a little bit,"_ Lord Chronos said.

Vera's eyes widened, terrified. Overlord winced.

"Yes, my lord," he muttered, and he walked over to Kyle, yanking him up by the arm. Kyle stumbled with him through the wall and into a different passage, still too fatigued from the Future Sight attack to put up a struggle. Instead, he opted to glare at the back of Overlord's head.

"You're really going to let them do that?" Kyle asked, his voice low. His feet screamed at him for walking across the bumpy surface of the passage, pleading to rest just a little longer. He had done an awful lot of moving around in the last hour, and he wouldn't be surprised if he had developed more than a few blisters.

The overlord shook his head. "He'll be fine. I've been through worse, and so have you."

"He's your _son_ ," Kyle said, emphasizing the words, "and in case you didn't notice, you left your six-year-old daughter and your wife in there, too!"

Overlord turned around, yanked Kyle closer and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. "If they disobeyed, then it's what they deserve. Their blood relation to me has nothing to do with that. And my wife…" He drew in a sharp breath. "My wife is very confused right now, and if the lords think that she's better off in their hands, then I trust them."

"You do _not_ ," Kyle growled. "I saw the look on your face."

Overlord narrowed his eyes. "I was merely surprised."

"Were you surprised when you told her you loved her?" Kyle said.

His grip loosened, and Kyle took the opportunity to wrench himself away. He stepped back a few paces, readying himself into a battle ready stance and hoping that Overlord would at least take him somewhat seriously. He had only ever managed to beat Kevin once, but with any luck, he'd be able to do it again. The king glared at him, his eyes icy.

"Look," Kyle said, his breathing steady, "maybe this is just a dream, or maybe somebody's slipping me acid, I don't even care anymore. But I've seen you, when you really care about someone. I know you. And I think, if you ever want to live with yourself… You've got to go back in there and stop them from _breaking your son_. Okay?"

The flame on Overlord's tail flared. "They're only helping him become stronger."

"And how many times did they feed you that lie before you believed it?" Kyle said.

Overlord cringed. He had to be getting through, however little. "You're remembering?"

Kyle scoffed. "I'm using my eyes! But if dead me or whatever told you that before, then maybe you should have listened!"

"Who told you all this?" Overlord snapped, stepping closer. "Blue? Vera?"

Kyle stepped back. "Certainly not _you_. You couldn't have mentioned it, though? Oh, hey Kyle, just so you know, _I brought you back to life_? Y'know, even though I never died, but whatever, let's just forget about that part for now!"

"Your memories were gone!" Overlord wrung his hands.

"So you decided to just throw me in jail and forget about it?" Kyle laughed, tail flicking.

"Why don't _you_ try convincing someone they're dead – it's really easy when they insist that they're alive!" Overlord snarled.

"That's just it, you didn't even try, did you?" Kyle growled. "Oh, but you told Vera, because she's your wife, and deserves to know way more than I do. I— I don't even know what I'm arguing here! All I know is that if you're not turning around and saving your family, then _I am_."

He turned, intending to make a break for it back into the room, but Overlord's lightning reflexes caught his arm again. Kyle's side slammed into the wall, and he could have sworn that even though he didn't hear anything crack, something did. His torso seared in pain as he felt Overlord lean over him, his grip tight.

"I am not letting you die again, Ky," Overlord whispered. "Since you've forgotten, I'll remind you: that's the lord in there, the one who taught us everything we know. There's also the other lord, who's a psychic. Now, please tell me how that matchup sounds favourable for you."

Kyle breathed. "I've had fights with people who've tried to kill me before. I know how to cover my weaknesses. I— I can stall—"

It wasn't like he had much to lose here. Maybe it was naïveté, or maybe it was the fearless rush of adrenaline he was getting from recent events, he wasn't sure. He had to fight. Absolutely. Otherwise…

"Don't hurt yourself," Overlord said. "Just calm down, and it'll be okay. How about— how about I put you in a room instead of back in the cell? And we can talk again, and I'll tell you everything I told Vera, okay?"

Otherwise what was he doing? Dealing with nightmarish thoughts of regret for the rest of his life? He already did enough of that while he was awake. He didn't need anything that happened here to haunt him, too. Blue and Emmy didn't deserve that.

He sighed. As far as opportunities went, now was as good as it was going to get.

"Okay." Kyle relaxed his shoulders.

Overlord stood up straight. "Good. Come on." He loosened his grip.

Kyle whirled around, clocking the overlord with a Mach Punch to the head much like his brother had done to him two days ago. The king was caught off guard and stumbled back a few steps, giving Kyle a chance to back step towards the lord's chamber. Overlord recovered too quickly, however, and he lunged forward with a punch of his own. Kyle shrunk against the side of the wall, ducking away while ignoring his protesting side, and found himself staring down his dream-brother in the hallway, exactly where he started.

…Damn it. He really wasn't good at this.

"Your breathing's heavy," Overlord said.

Kyle swallowed. His chest was rising rather erratically, but it was nowhere near as bad as it would usually be. He blinked. No scars, no punctured lung. Maybe he had a better chance than he thought.

"Don't make me knock you out," Overlord said. He looked legitimately worried that he would have to.

Kyle responded by cracking his knuckles (which he hated himself, but he figured it would annoy not-Kevin more). Overlord growled.

"You can't hit me." Kyle backed up a little bit. If he could play the fight the same way as the time he'd won a few years ago, that was his best bet.

Overlord rolled his eyes. "You're being very childish right now."

"Whatever. I'm not stopping." Kyle inched back some more.

"Fine," Overlord said, his voice dark.

Without warning, Overlord sent another fist Kyle's way, which Kyle narrowly avoided by jumping back. Kyle countered by using the walls as a tool to propel himself forward, aiming for Overlord's shoulder. Overlord twisted, causing Kyle to miss and hit part of the cloak instead, rendering his attack useless. Overlord flicked his tail, and a ring of fire encircled them. There were only a few feet to manoeuvre around in, now.

…Except there wasn't?

"I can walk through fire, you idiot," Kyle said.

"You're the idiot, this is Fire Spin!" Overlord snapped.

Kyle wasn't sure what that meant, but he was pretty confident that the fire still wouldn't hurt him all that much. He backed into it, the flames licking weakly at his fur. His heel hit something invisible, though, and he realized Overlord was right. It was like he was a magnet being repelled from beyond the flames.

All right, then. Fighting in close quarters would be perfect for Close Combat. He started with a low kick to try and knock Overlord off balance, with the intention of leading into two consecutive jabs somewhere on his upper body. Either Overlord was good at predicting or Kyle had moved too obviously, however, since he was promptly blocked and spun into a hold that didn't let him move his arms. Kyle swore.

"You're misguided, Ky. I _can_ hit you, and I will. Just give up before you get hurt," Overlord said.

Desperate, Kyle lashed his tail out, setting fire to Overlord's cloak. Overlord was distracted for a split second, allowing Kyle to spin their positions around again so that he was the one pinning his brother. Feeling quite proud of himself for accomplishing a move like that, Kyle smirked.

"You're underestimating me, Kev. I think I know a little more than I did when I died."

Just like with Little's paternity, if everyone was insisting that he had died, he figured he may as well roll with it. It seemed to work, anyway, since Overlord was trembling. All right. He had this. He just needed to not mess it up. And lie a little. Maybe a lot.

Kyle gulped. If he could pull this off, he'd buy Stella coffee _and_ cupcakes for the rest of his life.

"Hey, Kev, do you know what it's like to be wrenched away from the afterlife?" Kyle said, using the sharper voice he had that Stella sometimes described as a touch too scary. "It's not very fun. Kinda messes with your mental state a bit."

"Ky—"

"I'm not done," Kyle said. "That green guy in there said some things that jogged my memory a little. Said that Lord Shade's the one who brought me back. He's the one who put me through all this pain. Vera, too. Can you believe that? After how we went?"

Kyle could only imagine how he had supposedly died, but judging by Overlord's face, it hadn't been that nice. "I thought… you weren't remembering?"

"Believe me, I was trying not to," Kyle said. "But I guess some things are too painful to forget. I think I should pay him back for it."

"You can't, Ky," Overlord said quietly. "I don't want to see you die again."

Kyle faltered. "I… I won't, if you help."

The king's eyes were cold, sad, and defeated.

"Let me rest in peace, Kev," Kyle said, going back to his normal voice. "Please."

Vera screamed.

Overlord let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a held breath and a dry sob. Seizing his chance, Kyle pulled Overlord towards the fiery boundary blocking off their section of the hall.

"If you care about us at all…" Kyle began.

"They'll kill me," Overlord finished.

Kyle blinked.

"If I care about y— If I care about _anyone_ …" Overlord said, his eyes turned towards the ground. "If I show weakness, I won't be useful to them anymore. They'll… they'll just take Blue and Emmy like they took me and you…"

Kyle growled. "So you're more scared of losing your own life than you are for your kids?"

"That's not— The lord likes Blue," Overlord whispered.

"Yeah, well, I'll bet he liked you too," Kyle muttered.

Overlord scrunched his eyes, and the flames around them disappeared. Kyle frowned, looking from Overlord to the hallway, then back again.

"Just make it look like you beat me," Overlord said.

"How disgustingly cowardly of you," Kyle said, feeling the sudden urge to throw up. He let go of Overlord roughly, and a quick, panicked thought ran through his mind – Overlord could very easily fake him out at that moment, why did Kyle trust him?! But the seconds passed and Overlord remained in his position. Kyle took a breath. Maybe the ruthless really could have moments of mercy.

Then he remembered Chuno and shook his head, striding forward. Overlord didn't follow.

He reached the void that separated the hallway from the chamber without incident, but before he went through, he faltered. He couldn't just walk in, could he? Surely, the second he emerged, he'd be attacked again, and if he was attacked again, he'd definitely be knocked out. It was kind of surprising that the Future Sight attack hadn't knocked him out, actually…

Hold on, there had to be a reason for that. This was one of those things that if Kevin saw it, he'd go on a two minute lecture on how to strategically overcome it. But Kyle was no battler, and he had been very, very lucky that Overlord wasn't in a very good state of mind back there. So, then…

He glanced behind him. Overlord was gone. Kyle bit his lip. What had he said?

One of them… One of them was a psychic. Chronos. But the Future Sight hadn't knocked Kyle out. That meant… That had to mean that despite being in a position of power, he was not very physically strong. And he made up for it by dodging and being strategic. Kind of like… Kind of like how Kyle was himself, actually. And Kyle knew that he went down so long as someone could hit him, hard.

Then there was the other one. The shadow. He had to be either ghost or dark type, right? But… only one of them was weak to fighting, so he had to be careful. Kevin had said that a long time ago, when they were younger. But which one was it? Ghost or dark?

One would go down in one hit, and one was possibly immune to most of his attacks. He could try and Flamethrower them both, but Kyle doubted he was strong enough for that to work. So he was stuck, and he knew it, but… Both of their backs were probably turned away from the entrance. And if he was going to gamble anyway, Kyle figured he might as well swallow his fear and fight. For Blue's sake. And Emmy's. And Vera's.

"Here goes," he said to himself, rolling his eyes at his own rashness.

Slowly, he slipped back into the room, stepping lightly as to not make a sound. Remarkably, the lords' backs _were_ turned away from him. His eyes widened at his own luck. He glanced around them and caught Emmy's eye, and watched her seemingly bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. Oh god.

Emmy's eyes darted quickly to her left several times, and Kyle followed her line of sight to see Blue tending to Vera. She was huddled over with her head in her hands, and Kyle figured that the scream must have been caused by another Future Sight.

 ** _"The concept of family is really not necessary for our goals,"_** Lord Shade said. **_"I had no mother myself, you see, nor have I ever longed for one."_**

"That's too bad." Blue looked up. His eyes caught Kyle's, but he didn't visibly react. "I'm sure if you'd had a mom, you'd realize how much you need her."

 ** _"All I have ever needed is power. And that is also all you need. That is all you will learn to want, soon enough."_**

Kyle's mouth was a thin line. Maybe if Blue distracted them he could—

Lord Chronos jolted. _"Someone's behind yo—"_

Emmy spat a flame at the fairy, who flew higher to avoid it, twisting around to see Kyle. As soon as he turned, however, Blue threw a fistful of fire at his back and hit one of his wings. Before Kyle could take the chance to do anything himself, Lord Shade had already melted into the floor. Instead, Kyle rushed over to Blue and Vera.

"Are you okay—"

"Don't talk, fight!" Blue ordered, punching the ground by Kyle's feet. The floor rippled briefly before turning back to normal.

"He can appear anywhere, so don't let your guard down!" Blue got to his feet. He shot another series of flames at Lord Chronos, who was struggling to fly again.

Kyle blinked rapidly, his mind blanking. He had no plan, his hands were shaking, and the only thing he could get himself to do was help Vera up. She latched onto his arm and almost pulled him down with her, but Kyle managed to hoist her up as she staggered.

"We should probably get out of here," Kyle said, noticing the various portals and clocks again.

"But which one—"

Emmy shrieked as a shadowy arm whipped out from the wall and grabbed her. Blue slammed his fist at the wall, but the arm's grip held tight.

 ** _"Cunning!"_** Lord Shade said from within the wall, almost joyously. **_"To think that whiny little Kyle could actually be useful in a fight! I hope you realize that you're playing with legendaries, though!"_**

"Let her go!" Blue shouted.

Lord Shade chuckled. **_"Cel, knock 'em all dead with your song, will you?"_**

 _"If I must."_ A dirty glare clouded Lord Chronos's face.

"D-don't you even think about that!" Vera shouted. "If you're so legendary, then you shouldn't have to resort to cheap tricks to win!"

Kyle stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You're fighting a nine-year-old boy, for heaven's sake! Do you really want to admit that you're having trouble beating a child?" she said.

Lord Chronos blinked, then his eyes flashed again. _"You want to make it personal, sweetheart?"_

"The hell are you doing?" Kyle muttered, backing up.

Vera's arm came up to his for support. "Um, it's called 'Taunt', I think…"

Leaves materialized around Lord Chronos, and Kyle recognized the move as one of Kari's favourites, Leaf Storm. But that wouldn't do much to fire types, would it?

 ** _"Really, Cel? You fell for that?"_** Lord Shade said, his despicable voice the closest to casual that it would ever be. **_"Don't be an idiot, that move takes a lot out of you."_**

 _"I— There's nothing else!"_ Lord Chronos's tiny fists shook. _"I have to wait for—!"_

He was cut off by a solid, fiery punch from behind. Blue watched the fairy slam into the wall and fall, motionless. The corners of Blue's mouth twitched upwards for a split second as he soaked in his victory before he turned to Vera and mouthed the words 'thanks, Mom'. He whirled back around and stared down the wall where Emmy was still pinned, trying desperately to pry herself away from Lord Shade's grip.

"Don't be an idiot, my lord," Blue spat. "It's three against one, and we've got the type advantage."

 ** _"And I've got your sister,"_** the lord said. **_"You're very strong, Blue, and I'm quite impressed with what you've been able to accomplish during training, but unless you want to be the reason she dies, I suggest you stop fighting right now."_**

Kyle grimaced. Hostage situations were never good, and this one… Emmy was terrified, and Blue was probably exhausted from all the fighting he had done. But they were so close…!

They stumbled; the floor seemed unsteady. Suddenly, the lord's arm vanished, and Emmy dropped to the ground, free. She scrambled over to Blue, jumping into his arms. Kyle blinked.

"What just happened?" he asked, staring at the wall Lord Shade had just vanished from.

"I think the room moved," Vera said.

Good god.

Vera cringed, holding her head again. Kyle steadied her. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, that was that psychic move," Vera said, her voice very weak. She sent a dirty look to Lord Chronos's unconscious body. "I guess it still works even when they're not able to fight."

"Lord Chronos won't hurt you any more." Blue's voice was firm. "I'll make sure of that."

As if to prove his word, Blue walked over to the fairy and nudged him with his foot. Satisfied with the lack of movement, Blue hoisted Lord Chronos over his shoulder and carried him over to the wall of portals. He frowned for a second before tossing the lord into one of the darker-looking ones. He then brushed his hands together, done.

"Good idea," Emmy said.

"But what if that was the one that goes back home?" Vera asked quietly. Blue's shoulders dropped.

"They're labelled if you look close," Emmy said.

She pointed to a small etching in the wall. Blue peered at it. "Dimension One, UTC negative two, Kyogre. Um…"

"That's… a time zone, isn't it?" Kyle said. "Uh, we're nine hours ahead or something like that…"

"Plus nine…" Blue scanned the wall. "Maybe… that one?"

He pointed to a particularly bright blue portal. Kyle shrugged.

"What else does it say?" he asked.

"Dimension Three, UTC positive nine, Heatran," Blue read.

"That's the fire spirit thing that lives under Stark Mountain, isn't it?" Kyle said, bemused.

"But what does Dimension Three mean?" Vera asked.

Blue bit his lip. "I don't see any other ones that say Heatran," he said.

Kyle sighed. "Then that's our best bet. If it does take us to Stark, I can lead the way back to HQ. And I can call a Pidgeot for you, I guess." He glanced at Vera.

"Oh, um, thank you," she said.

"We're going with you," Blue said. "Even if it's not heaven, it's got to be better than here."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. It is."

Blue smiled. "See you on the other side, then."

Emmy climbed onto her brother's shoulders, and the two of them hopped into the pool of blue light. Kyle raised an eyebrow and started to make his way into it himself, but Vera tugged at his arm, stopping him.

"That was pretty crazy, huh?" A breathless laugh escaped her.

Kyle shrugged. "Yeah, it's up there."

Vera beamed. "I really appreciate what you did for me."

Kyle stared. "Uh, I really didn't do much…"

"You came back, and gave Blue the chance he needed to win," Vera said. "That was pretty important, if you ask me."

Her fingers trailed across his arm. Whoa, wait—

"If you're not busy, you know, when we get back, maybe we could— I mean, for our son's sake…"

 _Actually_ …?!

She took a deep breath. "Maybe just, start over, and try again the proper way? It's just, you're really incredible…"

Her fingers grazed his neck and he shuddered. Her eyes went wide, and she pulled her hand back as if she'd been burned.

"Look, I— Let's talk about that later, okay? Right now I just want to go home."

She nodded, looking away. "Right. I… right."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped into the portal, with nothing left to lose—

And he was spinning, twisting in circles. He'd lost his grip on Vera and he was plummeting down a deep, blue spiral, and he wondered in his delusion why the hell he'd thought that walking right into some unknown substance was a good idea, and he—

He blinked and he was back on his couch, curled into a little ball with his tail wrapped around his legs.

Stella looked up from beside him. "Oh, hey, sleepyhead."


	11. Chapter 11

The first thing Kyle processed was that he was not on Stark Mountain.

"Stell, are you… What time is it?" he murmured, his voice slurred from sleep.

"Around midnight, I think. Are you okay? Did you have one of those dreams?" Stella pawed at his sweater's drawstrings.

The second thing he processed was that Vera was nowhere to be seen.

"Um… have I been, like, just curled up right here the whole time?" He leaned over the back of the couch to check if any of his dream companions had landed there.

"Yes, and may I add that you looked really cute?" Stella smiled.

The third thing he processed was that he actually felt groggy.

"I slept," he said, blinking.

"Mmhmm," Stella chirped.

"But I was only there for a couple of hours, and I didn't fall asleep at ten," Kyle said.

Stella tilted her head. "Oh, so… did the Dream Eater work after all?"

Kyle shook his head. "No, I… I need to go to Stark Mountain."

"You do?" Stella drew back a bit.

"Yeah. Right now." Kyle leapt up. His leg jittered impatiently.

"Well, okay. I'll go get Ero, then." Stella jumped down from the couch and shook out her limbs.

"What? Uh—" Kyle stammered.

She raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you need to go there for, you should probably bring the guy who knows his way around, right? Especially since you're totally out of it right now."

"I… guess?" he said, but she had already pranced down the hall to Ero's room. Kyle blinked as he watched his editor emerge a moment later, rolling his eyes.

"Really, Kyle?" Ero said in a sarcastic whisper. "You need to go to Black Mountain _right now_? What, trying to hide from your brother or something?"

Kyle groaned. "No! I just need to check on something, all right? You don't have to come with me!"

"O-kay." Ero lightly rapped his knuckles on Kyle's arm as he brushed past. "But if it's that important to you, and it sounds like it is, I will."

Kyle breathed. He'd pay Ero back for the attitude later (and also pay him back for putting up with _him_ , because even Kyle could admit that he was acting a little jumpy and weird).

"Okay, all settled, then!" Stella said. "Whenever you're ready, Boss."

Nodding, Kyle turned his head to the entrance. "Right. It's dark, Stell, so you might want to stick close to my tail." Not that she'd complain. He beckoned, and the other two followed.

Kyle's mind was muddled and he wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, just that he needed to do it _right now_. He was still… he needed more sleep. After sorely missing it for so long, a few hours without dreams were definitely not enough to replenish his energy and make up all that lost time. That said, he didn't have the luxury of taking a good night's rest right now. He needed to remember what happened.

He had gone through the portal and ended up back in the comfort of his own home. And nobody else had come with him. So either that meant that the whole ordeal he'd just gone through really was a dream, or…

He shook his head. It was crazy, for sure. Just yesterday he'd have probably rolled his eyes at the thought of anything in his dreams being real. But yesterday he hadn't escaped a dungeon with the mother of his son and his nonexistent niece and nephew. And he hadn't actually felt rested – to any degree, even the negligible one he felt now – for a good three months. So that was something.

So… So maybe Blue and Emmy had turned up at Stark Mountain, and he only woke up at Headquarters because there couldn't be two of him running around, and by that merit, Vera woke up in Hoenn, and the kids were just walking around Stark without a clue right now. Or maybe walking through the portal had caused whatever alternate reality he'd been stuck in to collapse and that was the end of it all. He had to check, though, just to make sure. Because he was a good person, damn it, and he owed his freedom to those two. Especially Blue.

He just… He had to know. Because he loved those kids and he owed them everything.

"Something's not right up there," Ero muttered. "Why are so many people awake?"

Kyle looked up at the mountain. (Had that much time already passed?) Ero was right. There were way too many people moving around up there for this time of night. So, something had definitely happened there, then? He hoped that Blue and Emmy hadn't caused too big of a commotion, if they were even there.

"Do you know anything about this, Boss?" Stella frowned at him in confusion.

Kyle swallowed. "I might."

"This feels bad," Ero said. "Should we be going up there?"

"I have to," Kyle said.

"Can you tell us a little more about why?" Stella made an uneasy face at the people on the mountain. They were huddled together, whispering, and swaying around nervously.

Kyle shook his head. "I'm not really sure what happened, but…" He started making his way up the mountain path. Stella and Ero walked a couple feet behind him. Were they really that concerned about him?

He heard whispers again, like he had at Mount Chimney, but this time he didn't try to block them out.

 _"_ _See? It's not the Shade."_

 _"_ _They have to be from Red Mountain, though. There's no way they're native."_

 _"_ _But who are they?"_

Kyle bit his tongue. Yep, that didn't sound good.

"Ero!" someone called.

Kyle looked up to see Ero's sister running towards them, looking fearful. Ero greeted her, his voice uncertain.

"Emin, what's happening, do you know?" he asked.

She nodded, cringing and making a face similar to Stella's from a while ago. "It's awful – these kids showed up out of nowhere and there are two dead bodies—"

"What?!" Kyle blurted out. "So, then—"

"Some people are saying it's murder, but they don't look like they were killed, at least not violently, anyway, and nobody even knows who they are, the bodies and the kids, I mean, which is the weirdest part of it…" Emin said, hugging her arms. "Well, other than the fact that one of the bodies looks like you, Mr. Shade," she squeaked, blinking at him.

Kyle felt his stomach sink, but he tried to ignore it. "Okay, first off, I know who those kids are, and second, they didn't murder anyone, all right? I need you to take me to them."

Emin stared. "Huh? But, wait, are you… Did you know about this? Is that why you're here?"

Stella and Ero had also turned to look at him like he was nuts. He shook his head. "Not exactly, but… I think they really need to see me, right now."

Emin eyed him apprehensively. "Oh, but you…" She made a face. "The elders are going to have a fit if they find out you're involved."

"They always have a fit." Ero crossed his arms. "And honestly, if I don't find out more about this, then so will I."

"I promise I'll clear things up," Kyle said, already desperately trying to weave a conceivable story in his head. Things weren't looking so hot. And with his two best friends looking at him like he was a criminal, he didn't have much support at the moment. "And I swear that nobody did anything wrong, okay?"

"All right." Emin fidgeted with her fingers. "I think they were taken over this way…"

* * *

 _"_ _The Shade knows about the dead bodies?"_ an old Infernape said, raising an eyebrow at Emin.

 _"_ _That's what he says,"_ Emin mumbled.

 _"_ _Just let me see the kids,"_ Kyle said, growing more annoyed by the minute.

The Infernape sighed and massaged his temple. _"Emin, I understand that you probably identify with this tragedy more than most, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to bend the rules for you and let any old outsider in on the details. Especially an uncultured kid like him."_ He jabbed a finger in Kyle's direction. Kyle growled.

 _"_ _This situation has nothing to do with you! None of the people involved are even from Black Mountain!"_ Kyle narrowed his eyes. _"And what happened to Ero and Emin has nothing to do with it, either. I swear."_

 _"_ _Please, sir?"_ Emin said.

He grumbled. _"If it's really all because of him…"_

 _"_ _It is! I mean, not the murders, not that there_ _were_ _murders – it's complicated. But I've got to make sure they're okay, okay?"_ Kyle said.

 _"_ _Fine,"_ the Infernape said. _"I'll be watching, though."_

The Infernape nodded behind him, and the guards in charge of the prison cell began to heave the boulder that was in the way to allow them all entry. Stella glanced up at Ero, her movements small.

"Hey, Ero, what happened to you and your sister?" Stella asked.

Ero frowned. "It's nothing."

Kyle glanced back. "You don't have to act like it's not a big deal, you know."

Ero shrugged.

Once the boulder was shoved to the side, they all walked into the small, red cavern. The space inside was cozy, probably smaller than Vera's house, but still not as small as his prison cell in the castle. He saw Blue and Emmy sitting together and smirked.

"Hey, you guys," he said, barely believing it.

Blue stared. "You're dead!"

"I told you already, I'm not!" Kyle said, but before he even finished, his niece and nephew had run into him at full speed and wrapped him in a warm hug. It was foreign and weird to be hugged like he was a safety net, but he liked it. A lot. He hugged back.

"Where's Mom?" Blue's bright eyes peeked out from the fabric of Kyle's sweater.

Kyle grimaced. "My guess is probably at Mount Chimney. At least you actually turned up here."

He grinned, and a blast of frigid wind blew past his face. "Hey!" He whipped his head around to glare at Stella.

"Hey?! When the hell did you go and have these two, huh? How many women were you with that night?!" Stella shouted, her face red. The air began to crystalize around her headpiece.

"Wha— I'm not their father!" Kyle's jaw dropped.

"He's our uncle," Blue said quickly, staring at Stella like he'd never seen anyone like her before. Then again, maybe he hadn't. Most ice types would have an awful time in a desert climate.

Stella's face contorted in confusion as the ice crystals dropped and shattered. "Your uncle?"

Ero narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute, are those two your dream niece and nephew?"

"Yeah, um, about that…" Kyle said. "I don't know what was happening when I was sleeping, but I don't think they were dreams anymore."

He smiled, tentatively, at Stella. She gaped back. Ero raised his eyebrows.

"So these are Overlord's kids," he said.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah."

Ero's eyes glanced over Blue and Emmy, giving them a searching look. "Well, I guess they match your description…"

"Ero!" Emin's eyes bulged. "I don't know what's going on, but don't tell me you believe that those kids came out of a dream or something!"

Kyle sighed. "Look, it's—"

"Not the weirdest thing I've heard Kyle say." Ero shrugged. "Besides, did you see their eyes?"

Ero casually jabbed a thumb at Emmy.

"Green… and blue?" Emin frowned. "I didn't know that was possible…"

"I didn't either, for a while. But these kids are definitely related to him somehow." Ero turned around.

"Are our eyes are weird?" Emmy looked at her brother.

"I don't know," Blue said quietly.

Kyle crossed his arms. "Can I please have some time alone with them? There are some family matters I need to go over." He addressed the prison chief, who had stayed silent with a blank look on his face.

"W-we still don't know how they're connected to the bodies—" the Infernape stuttered.

"They're like, six and ten! Do you really think they're capable of doing anything like that?" Kyle said, knowing full well that Blue probably was. Not that Blue would, of course. "I'll do my best to explain what happened later, but right now, I need to speak with them without anyone freaking out about their eyes or anything else that's going to come up, all right?"

"Anything else…?" Emin cringed.

"It's better that you leave, Em," Ero said.

Stella nodded. "Yes, I agree."

Kyle stood, his expression firm. Reluctantly, Emin sighed and turned, pulling the Infernape along with her.

"I really hope I didn't tangle my little brother up in something bad," she muttered.

"Relax, Em," Ero groaned.

They left, and the boulder was put back into place. Well. Kyle figured he couldn't blame the people on Stark Mountain for not trusting him all that much.

"So, Boss, can you clear things up now?" Stella puffed out her cheek.

"Right," Kyle said. "Stell, Ero, these are Blue and Emmy. They're Overlord's kids… That's Dream-Kevin."

"How are they real?" Stella's eyebrows rose.

Blue scoffed bitterly. "Not this again."

"Maybe they think we shouldn't be here because we haven't died yet?" Emmy said.

"For the last time, guys, this isn't heaven." Kyle ran a hand though his hair. "I… I don't know what to tell you, but I guess this is just another world or something. The one that _I_ grew up in."

"But you grew up with Dad," Emmy said.

"Well… that was a different me," Kyle said, vaguely remembering something Lord Chronos had said. "I think."

"Like how Mom wasn't really Mom?" Emmy asked. Blue glared at her.

"Just because she lost her memory doesn't make her a different person," he said.

"Actually, Blue, I think Emmy has the right idea," Kyle said.

"You're kidding!" Blue said indignantly.

"No, I mean, after what happened, it sounds like you two are from some alternate universe or something… One that has some of the same people, but those peoples' lives just worked out differently," Kyle said. He glanced at Stella and Ero. "Should we go with that?"

"I think I was in a movie with a plot like that, once," Stella muttered.

"If anyone's from an alternate universe, it's you," Blue said, uncharacteristically haughty.

"Why would you say that?" Kyle asked.

"Just look around," Blue said, blinking. "There's a cold lady with blue fur next to you. Your cloak's really weird, too. And nobody's calling you 'my lord', even though you're in charge."

Kyle stared.

"You're the king, right? Why else would you be wearing a cloak?" Blue said.

"Um… no," Kyle said. "Wow. I think we might need to backpedal a bit, here."

"You think?" Ero scoffed.

"How about we ask you two the questions?" A stiff smile cut through Stella's face.

Blue sighed. "Okay."

Kyle scratched Stella behind the ear, because he knew if he didn't, she would assault Blue with rude questions as revenge for the 'cold lady' thing. Besides, he had a better idea of what questions needed asking, he was sure of it.

"Blue, did you two ever leave the castle?" Kyle asked.

Blue grimaced. "Only a few times."

"I thought so. I guess that means you have a different idea of what's normal," Kyle said. He smiled. He could work with this. He talked to humans with different understandings all the time. "First of all, Stella has blue fur and is cold because she's an ice type."

"Ice type?" Blue's eyebrows creased. "But I thought… they only lived in cold places, where it snows and stuff."

Kyle glanced at Stella. She sighed. "Well, most do, but they don't all have to. I mean, it can get kind of unbearable here in the summer, but I can just make it hail in my room, so…"

She trailed off and raised an eyebrow at Blue, whose expression had turned from something annoyed to utter fascination. "Yeah," she finished, her voice flat.

"Second, this isn't a cloak," Kyle said before Blue forgot about the rest of his question. "It's called a sweater, and it doesn't mean I'm in charge or a king or anything, I just wear it because it makes me more comfortable. But cloaks don't mean you're a king, either, at least not here."

"Okay…" Blue frowned.

"What about our eyes?" Emmy tilted her head to the side.

Oh, right. "Yeah, that's… Normal Monferno – and Chimchar and Infernape – they have gray or brown eyes. You two get your eyes from the human genes in you, that's all."

"What's that?" Blue asked.

"A gene? Oh, I dunno, it's like DNA or something." Kyle shrugged. "I'm sure Dad can explain it—"

"No, human. What's that?" Blue asked.

Nobody spoke. They couldn't.

Blue rolled his eyes, frustration settling in. "If you're not even going to answer—"

"I will! It's just— you're speaking it right now," Kyle said.

"What? No I'm not," Blue said.

"Yes you are! But it's not just a language, it's— Like, another species…"

"What type?" Blue asked.

"Not a Pokémon!" Kyle ran his fingers through his hair again in disbelief. "I… How am I even supposed to describe one?"

"A trainer?" Ero tried.

Blue frowned. "Never heard of it. Emmy?"

She shook her head. "Nope!"

"How can something be alive without being a Pokémon?" Blue asked.

"Boss, I think we need to sit them down for a long talk," Stella said.

"Got it," Kyle said. He marched towards the boulder. "I'll go see if we can get them out of here. I'd feel better if we talked more back at HQ. Watch them for a sec?"

Ero saluted while Stella huffed, raising an eyebrow at Blue. Kyle took that as a yes.

He shouted at the wall, hoping the guards would hear him and move the boulder to let him out. After a few moments of nothing, the giant stone was heaved off of the ground again, and Kyle caught a mutter about excessive heavy lifting. As he slipped out, he saw Emin and the prison chief in a heated discussion with someone else from the mountain. He walked closer, frowning.

 _"_ _How could they just disintegrate?"_ The old Infernape shook his head.

 _"_ _I'm telling you, they went all shadowy, and then they were gone,"_ the other Monferno said. She blinked, wide eyed. _"We don't know how it happened…"_

"What happened?" Kyle asked.

Emin glanced at him, a new, critical look in her eye. _"The bodies are gone."_

He blinked.

 _"_ _If this has anything to do with you…"_ the Infernape said.

 _"_ _It doesn't, I promise,"_ Kyle said, quickly switching to Pokémon. The last thing he wanted was to sound rude to people who already had a poor opinion of him.

 _"_ _You said you'd explain, though,"_ Emin said. _"Want to do that?"_

 _"_ _Um…"_ Kyle said. He hadn't had much time to think about a story, so maybe he could get away with parts of the truth. _"There's this scary Pokémon, and he's really powerful. I think he might even be a legendary."_

 _"_ _You're blaming Heatran, now?"_ Emin said.

 _"_ _Not Heatran,"_ Kyle said, although he wasn't quite sure what Heatran was supposed to look like. _"This one is like… pitch black. Kind of humanoid? He's got long white hair and a really creepy, bright blue eye."_

None of the Stark Mountain residents looked impressed.

 _"_ _Anyway… It's because of him that the kids were brought here. And that's probably why the bodies turned all shadowy or whatever you said. Those bodies probably weren't real, either…"_ Kyle said.

The Infernape growled. _"I've had enough of this."_

 _"_ _I know it sounds weird, but that's what happened. Look, I'll take full responsibility for the kids and take them home with me, and that's the last you'll have to deal with it, does that sound good?"_ Bargaining was not the easiest when it came to situations like these, but this wasn't like dealing with the human police. They wouldn't interrogate him. Hopefully.

 _"_ _Once you leave, I don't want to see you back,"_ the Infernape said.

Great, that was one less speech to prepare for in the future. _"All right, I'll go!"_

Emin sighed. _"This is so weird…"_

 _"_ _Sorry,"_ Kyle apologized quickly, turning back to the small cave. He poked his head in the opening, waving at everyone inside. "All clear, we're leaving!"

Stella bounded out of the room at once. "Good, it's getting too hot."

"Oh, cancel my next speech here, by the way," Kyle said.

"Sure thing." She glanced up at him in amusement. "Are you kicked out for life?"

"Looks like," he said. "Whatever, though. I have more important things to worry about right now."

* * *

After a long walk that involved a lot of stopping to examine an abundance of foliage, mountain formations, and a general lack of sand, they all finally made it back to Headquarters. Ero and Stella went to bed, exhausted from the hike, but Kyle stayed up. He knew someone wouldn't be sleeping, and he wanted to be there for him. Because he knew if he were in the same situation, he'd want answers, too.

So, they sat in the main room, and they had a long, long talk.

Blue sat with his fingers intertwined and placed firmly on his lap, the warm light from his tail casting a soft glow across his body. His pupils stared, fixed on his fingernails, darker and more serious than they'd ever been in the dream world. Emmy slumped beside him, asleep.

"So I'm a part human, and that's why I have blue eyes, and other Monferno think that's scary," Blue said, his voice methodical. "But there are so many other Pokémon in the world who don't realize it's weird, so I can probably get by without too much trouble. And almost every Pokémon speaks human now, but they couldn't before, and it only changed because of you, and that's why everyone knows you as the Shade. But you're not a king or a lord. You're just a guy telling humans why Pokémon deserve just as much as they have."

Kyle nodded. It had been another sleepless night, but this one was for Blue, and that was what mattered. "Right. There's a lot of other stuff, and I mean a lot, but it'll come up when it comes up. You have to understand that it's hard for me to explain the things that I kind of take for granted."

"I understand." Blue breathed, bringing his hands closer to his face, never once looking up to face Kyle.

"Why would my dad keep all this from me?" Blue asked after a long pause. "The humans, I mean. They must exist in my world, too. Knowing about them doesn't make me any weaker, does it?"

"I'm not sure," Kyle said. "Your dad did a lot of things that don't make sense. I'm just sorry that you have to basically relearn everything you thought you knew."

Blue took another breath. "I knew it would be different here, when I made the choice to go through that portal. I just didn't know it would be like _this_. But if this is what the rest of the world is really like, even if the world is different…"

He closed his eyes. "I'm glad I got away."

Kyle smirked softly. "So am I."

Blue opened his eyes, solemn, then turned his attention to his sister. "You might need to explain some stuff again when she wakes up."

Kyle nodded. "Of course."

"And… Uncle Kyle? Thank you for telling me everything," Blue said.

Kyle grinned. "No problem. Listen, you need anything, I'm here, okay? You did so much for me, I'm just returning the favour."

Blue grinned back. "Thanks."

Kyle stood up, stretching. "All right, I think I'll see if I can get some sleep. You two can stay right there, for now, unless you want to share half of my bed or something."

Blue shook his head. "We'll stay here. Goodnight."

"Night." He began walking to his room.

"Oh, Uncle Kyle?" Blue said. Kyle turned.

"Hm?"

"I just wanted to say that I think you make a great dad." Blue smiled, peeking from over the couch.

Kyle stared. "I… Thank you."

"No problem!"

Kyle didn't sleep for the rest of the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

He could hear Kevin's feet as they made their way down the hall for the first time that morning, stop, and then quickly, sloppily retrace their steps. Kyle frowned. Maybe he could get out of the incoming storm if he pretended he was asleep.

Kyle rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, and not a second later he heard the thin piece of fabric that was draped over his doorway _woosh_. "Yo, Ky," Kevin said.

Kyle kept still. His brother made an annoyed grunt and walked up to him. "Get up!"

Kevin shook him roughly. Kyle groaned and rolled over, now facing him, and did not make his disdain unknown. " _What_?"

"There are two kids in the living room going through your stuff?" Kevin crossed his arms. "You might want to do something about it." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Kyle scowled.

"I know, Kev. Don't worry about them, I'm helping them out for a while." He sat up and stretched, feeling his spine crack. Midnight hikes up mountains didn't exactly do much for his health, did they?

"Helping— Oh, nice. So you're a perfect and wonderful guy to a couple of random kids, but when it comes to your _own_ son…" Kevin rolled his eyes.

"They're not just random kids, actually." Kyle stood up, ignoring the rush of blood to his head that made him feel faint. He shoved his hands into his pocket and walked past his brother. "I know Get to Know Your Son Day was a couple of days ago, but we might want to have a belated celebration."

"…Fill me in?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. He followed Kyle out of his bedroom.

Kyle smirked as they reached the main room. "Ready to become a responsible father?"

Blue and Emmy were awake, but from the looks of it, they hadn't been for long. The package of cupcakes Stella had bought for Little's birthday was open on the counter with Emmy right beside it, licking the icing off each one. Blue was under the counter, his irritated, flicking tail the only part of him that was visible.

"Hi Uncle Kyle!" Emmy chirped.

Kyle grinned. "Hey!"

At this, Blue poked his head out over the counter. "Hey, do you have any bread, or ham, or something? I can only find apples."

"Sorry, no. I only eat apples." Ham, huh? He knew the kids liked sandwiches, but he hadn't realized that they were omnivores. Did Kevin eat meat?

Blue pouted. "That's lame," he muttered. He raised an eyebrow at Kevin. "Um… is that…?"

Kyle laughed, patting his speechless brother on the back. "This is my brother. My _real_ brother. He's not an overlord or anything, but he can be just as annoying, I promise."

Emmy blinked. "He looks weird."

"Yeah, like… younger, or something." Blue's eyes narrowed.

"There's a story about that, but it's a little hard to explain," Kyle said.

"Hold on!" Kevin raised his hands in front of him. "Are you punking me?"

Kyle chuckled. "Yeah, totally. They're just wearing coloured contacts. And, y'know, they _trained themselves_ to look like you."

"I mean it, Kyle!" Kevin turned, his eyes flashing. "I was joking about the mystery kid thing! Because unlike you, some of us don't have a bunch of blind fangirls to get drunk and sleep around with!"

Kyle stared. Maybe he'd made a mistake.

Kevin turned his glare on Blue and Emmy. "I don't know how he convinced you two to take part in this stupid joke of his, but you should leave. Now."

"No, don't!" Kyle shot a quick glance at Blue before looking at his brother. "Kevin, listen. I know I was treating it like one, but this isn't a joke, I swear."

"And why should I believe you? You— you haven't been honest since I don't even know when, and you're telling me that _this_ is the truth? Ky, I haven't— I haven't even _kissed_ anyone, let alone…" Kevin's hands shook violently. It was a miracle that Kyle hadn't been punched in the face again yet.

"Fine! I'll tell you everything! They're from some weird alternate universe where you're an insane king of a castle in a desert!" Kyle shouted.

Kevin's jaw dropped. "You can't be _serious_ …"

"I am," Kyle said quickly. "I know it's weird and hard to believe, but I've been having these dreams for months now—"

"Dreams! Oh, okay!" Kevin's face was nasty. He sauntered over to the couch and sat haphazardly on the arm. He pointed at the kids in a large, exaggerated gesture. "So, let me guess, that's Little Kevin and— and I don't know, _Susie_ , and who even knows who their mother is—"

"Our names are Emmy and Blue. And Mom's name is Vera," Emmy said. She puffed out her cheek.

Kevin's mouth was thin. "Oh, I see. My mistake."

Kyle grimaced. "That's a complete coincidence."

Kevin didn't look at him. "Okay, so that's Emmy and Blue, and their mom's some hooker. And I'm an evil tyrant, or something like that? Sounds like a paradise you've dreamed up there, Ky."

"He's not lying."

Kyle turned. Blue was staring Kevin down from the counter, looking every bit as angry as Kevin was.

"He isn't?" Kevin asked. "Really? You're backing him up on this? Just go home, kid."

Blue clenched his teeth. "We can't. But if I tell you something about you that Uncle Kyle doesn't know, will you believe us?"

Emmy blinked. "Do we know anything like that?"

"I really doubt it." Kevin's eyes were dangerously narrow. "But all right. Humour me."

Blue breathed. "I really hope this is the same for both you and Dad, but…" He closed his eyes and gulped. "Your favourite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast."

"Why?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Because you relate to it, and sometimes call yourself a monster," Blue said, his voice quiet. "Mom didn't— she doesn't think you are."

Kevin stared Blue down, his eyes cold and calculating. After what seemed like an eternity, he rolled his shoulders and leaned back, frowning. "It's been a really long time since anyone read me a fairy tale, kid."

Blue shrugged. "It was the best thing I could think of. You act a lot differently than my dad."

"That's 'cause I'm not your dad," Kevin said, "or anyone else's, for that matter. _Especially_ not— what are you, twelve?"

"I'm ten in May," Blue said.

"Ten. Ten years ago I was still in that Pokéball." Kevin shot a glare at Kyle.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "For Pete's sake, Kevin, I said they were from another universe—"

"Because _those_ exist!" Kevin scoffed.

"Well, do you have another explanation for blue and green eyes?" Kyle was on the verge of losing his patience. "Because honestly, Kevin, if you find it more believable that there's _another_ family like us and I just _happened_ to convince their kids to help me lie to you…"

Kevin took a deep breath. "There are Pokémon with natural eyes those colours. Like… like that Roo kid, he's got green eyes. Maybe their dad's a Pokémon like that."

"Blue looks just like you," Kyle growled.

"Yeah, and what kind of name is that, even?" Kevin scowled. "If I had a kid, _which I don't_ , I'd name him something better than that."

"You called Little _Little_ ," Kyle said.

"That was— Give me a break, I was fourteen!" Kevin spat.

Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Anyway." Kevin waved his hands in front of him. "I refuse to believe that I have anything to do with these kids, and for good reason." He lowered his hands to rest them on the arm of the couch, the slight hiss of steam audible as the material beneath his fingers burned. Kyle swallowed. He felt the smallest tinge of remorse at the destruction of his property.

"Fine, believe that, then." Kyle crossed his arms. He walked over to the counter, picked up the now empty cupcake container, and tossed it in the box he used for recycling underneath the slab of rock. "Someone has to take care of these two, though."

"That's your responsibility," Kevin said.

"Yes it is, but you said yourself that I don't have the time to do it very well," Kyle said.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh. So you want to shove them onto me?"

Kyle frowned. "No."

"May I remind you that I don't live here?" Kevin said. "Not to mention that I'm busy with Little. And they're _not my kids_."

"Well, why don't you live here?" Kyle grimaced. "We can… We can always dig more rooms. And Kari's here! That would work, wouldn't it?"

"Why are you so desperate about this?" Kevin snapped. He slumped off the couch and began to head outside.

Kyle glared, moving in front of his brother to cut him off. "Because I know what it's like to have your dad leave, and I don't want them to go through that!" After what happened with Little, he couldn't bear to be responsible for that again…

"For the last time, Kyle, I am _not_ —"

"Uncle Kyle, it's okay," Blue said.

The brothers turned. Blue shifted uncomfortably.

"I mean… We kind of ran away."

"I…" Kyle blinked. Well, maybe, but they'd run away from _Overlord_ , not Kevin, right? And Kevin was good with Little, so…

"Well, there you have it," Kevin said. He chuckled darkly while shaking his head. "We're done here. I think I'll go and pick up Little myself, save you the hassle."

Kevin pushed Kyle out of his way (though he did it gently, strangely enough) and left without another word. Kyle breathed. Great. This was going to take another seven years or so to apologize for. On top of that, he was now apparently the sole foster parent of his niece and nephew instead of being a father to his own son.

He groaned. Maybe if he had actually slept the first night he was able to in months, he'd have come up with a better way to handle the situation.

"Uncle Kyle?" Emmy asked.

He turned to her. "Yeah?"

"Was that actually our dad?" Her big green eyes shone with genuine curiosity. Blue frowned.

"Oh, definitely. He gives off the same feeling as Dad," Blue said. "But… he's younger than you in your world?"

Kyle shrugged. "I'm not familiar with the details, but I think it was some kind of computer glitch that slowed his aging when he got captured." Seeing the kids' faces, Kyle waved a hand nonchalantly and said, "It might be easier for you guys to think of it as time travel, or being frozen in time."

"Oh wow," Emmy said. "Did Lord Chronos do that to him?"

"Um… no," Kyle said. "Anyway, I… I think I should go and get Little before Kevin does, so can you hang tight for a little bit?"

"Sure," Blue said.

Emmy grinned. "I really want to meet our cousin! Can we come with you?"

Oh, dear lord. He hadn't even thought about how Little would react to the sudden appearance of two cousins… two half-siblings, even, if he wanted to get really technical. And if Blue and Emmy knew that Kyle had a kid with their mother… "Um, no, I think you'd better stay here. I might be able to convince Kevin to let Little meet the two of you, though…"

Kyle cringed. What was he talking about? There was no way that Kevin was going to budge on anything regarding Little, not after _that_. Way to go and make false promises. Yeah, number one dad of the year, right here.

"Don't worry, I'll do it. If he really is Dad, then I know how." Emmy said, her nose proudly in the air. She hopped off the counter and ran up the tunnel before Kyle could process what she said.

"Emmy!" Blue looked helplessly after her. "You can't just…! Uh, sorry, I'll get her—"

Kyle nodded. "Me too."

They ascended after her, although from the looks of the small tail flame still inside the entrance, she hadn't gotten very far at all. Kyle came to a stop directly behind her sitting figure.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked.

"Ask him!" Emmy yelled, thrusting a finger into the air in front of her. A very confused Breloom opened his mouth indignantly.

"Hey! It's not my fault that you ran outside without even looking," Roo puffed out a cheek.

Kyle blinked. "What are you doing right in front of my door?"

Roo reached to scratch the back of his neck with his overly large red claws, sending Kyle a small grin. "We were just practicing Seed Bomb."

"That's right! Do you have to interrupt every single time?!" Chikoro trotted up to them, his eyes flashing furiously.

Kyle scoffed. "Seriously? Find a better spot to train!"

"This just so happens to be the best spot!" Chikoro flipped his leaf. "It's flat and wide open and the grass isn't too tall! And since I'm leaving today, we have to make the best of the time we have!"

"You've been doing pretty well, so far." Roo's claw came to rest under his chin. "I think we just need to work on the power behind launching the bombs. You should be good at that, being adamant…"

"Not again," Chikoro muttered. "My vines are too weak to do anything with."

"Maybe we need to reconsider where the power's coming from, then," Roo suggested.

"Maybe you need to say sorry for running into me!" Emmy huffed.

Roo frowned. It was an odd expression for him; he looked much, much older with his eyes narrowed. "But I didn't."

"Did too!" Emmy said.

Blue, who had been in the dark the entire time, squeezed past Kyle to kneel by his sister. "Emmy, come on, he didn't mean it."

Roo's eyes shot open. "Whoa!"

"What?" Chikoro said. He blinked.

"Speaking of power!" Roo clapped his hands together. "Look at that! Incredible!"

Suddenly Roo was at Blue's side, holding Blue's arm in his hands like it was made of glass. Blue let out a startled cry and leaned back as far as he could while still in Roo's grasp. "What are you doing?!"

Roo's grin was maniacal. "This is amazing! I had no idea a kid could have muscles like this! How often do you train?"

Blue pulled his arm away slowly, obviously flustered. "Um… I don't know, maybe four or five hours a day?"

"Four or five," Roo repeated. His eyes seemed to glaze over. "That's up to thirty-five hours a week. So then… If I don't go out with Seri, I can get in an extra three hours today and start going for six…"

"Seri? What happened to Viola?" Chikoro asked, staring at Blue.

"Too prissy." Roo narrowed his eyes. "She didn't even like battling!"

"Then why the _hell_ did you go out with her?" Chikoro squinted.

"'Cause she was cute," Roo said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway! You, kid! I want a battle!"

The colour in Blue's face drained. "What? Why?"

Roo smirked. "What, you can't tell? You look crazy-strong, especially for a kid. Fire type, too. I want to see how I do against someone like you!"

Blue's tail jolted quickly, and Kyle caught the cut from their window escape, still a rather raw shade of red. Blue breathed in deeply before staring Roo straight in the face.

"I don't like hurting people," he said.

Roo's eyebrows shot up, and he whistled. "Oooh, nice. I didn't peg you as a trash talker!"

Blue frowned. "I'm serious."

"Yeah, yeah." Roo stood up and stretched. "We are _so_ on. Koro, can you hold my scarf?"

Chikoro blinked rapidly. "I guess…? Who even is this kid?"

Kyle coughed. "Long story short, Blue and Emmy are— Oh _crap_ , Kevin. Where did he go?" How he managed to let a bunch of kids side-track him for so long, he didn't know.

"Into town, I think." Chikoro took Roo's blue scarf with his vines and folded it.

"So he didn't leave the island?" Kyle said. He turned his gaze onto Blue, who had stood up. He had a mild shake all over his body, like someone with the flu, or someone who needed to throw up. Possibly both. But Blue was a great battler, from what Kyle had seen – there was no need to be so nervous about a friendly competition, even if the competition was a decent amount of years older than him.

Chikoro shook his head. "Idiot. Slickky wouldn't leave without me and your mom."

Kyle frowned. "I guess it wouldn't make sense to make a trip all the way to Hoenn to pick Little up before you all headed back," he said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the immaculate genius behind the Shades," Chikoro said, deadpan.

Kyle chose to ignore Chikoro (indulging him with a reaction wouldn't get either of them anywhere) and instead focused on the battle that was just about to begin. Either Roo didn't notice Blue's shaky breaths and jittering muscles, or he just didn't care. He stretched, shaking out his arms with an enormous smirk on his face.

"Hey, do you have a Battle Frontier cry?" Roo asked, his green eyes sparkling.

"Um… no…" Blue muttered. He really did look sick.

"Don't feel bad, Blue, he deserves what he's gonna get!" Emmy's face twisted into a nasty glare. "Do your worst!"

Blue grimaced. "But he… Everyone here is so nice, I didn't think…"

"He's not nice at all! Slice him up!" Emmy said.

"That's too harsh for somebody you only ran into," Blue reasoned.

"He ran into me!" Emmy jabbed a finger at Roo once again. "If you won't slice him, then burn him!"

Chikoro's eyes widened. "That's one angry little girl."

"Yeah." Kyle folded his arms uncomfortably. Had she gotten that from her father, or from one of the lords? Either way, Kyle decided that he would do everything in his power to ensure he remained on her good side.

"You can do it in one hit," Emmy said.

"But what if it's too strong?" Blue said. "It's not easy to control, and I didn't even dare to use it when we were escaping—"

"He said _he_ was strong, right? If he's not strong enough to take it, then he's a liar and he deserves what he'll get!" Emmy said. "Come on, Blue, if _I_ could do it—"

"Hey now, Emily, was it?" Roo grinned. "Look, maybe if you train really hard, I'll let you battle me, but right now, this is a battle between me and Muscles. Okay?"

"My name is Emera!" Emmy screeched. "Blue, Overheat!"

"O-okay…"

Overheat. If Kyle knew anything about that move, it was that it wasn't exactly a natural kind of attack, but a human invention. It had started out as a technical machine, based on dangerous tactics employed by some aggressive Unovan Pokémon. Overheat took the user's body to an extremely high, feverish temperature, and then expelled that heat in one fell blast. It was a move that left Pokémon drained, exhausted, and more likely to develop organ failure later on in their lives.

The only reason Kyle was familiar with it was because he had petitioned to get the mechanical version of the dangerous move discontinued. Instead, it was included as a _Trainer's Choice_ item in Silph Co.'s new line of reusable TMs. Twice.

"I think we should stand back." Chikoro eyed Blue's tail flame, which had tripled in size in a matter of seconds.

"Oh yeah, you especially," Kyle said. Chikoro moved a good ten feet back, his eyes still glued to Blue's tail. Kyle back stepped a few paces.

"What? Hey, come on, you didn't say we were starting!" Roo said indignantly. Nonetheless, he whipped his tail around, slamming it into the ground and releasing a fine green powder into the air towards Blue. "Have some Spore!"

The spores hadn't even been close to Blue when they disintegrated, turning to ash the instant the heat blast was released. The attack looked scarily similar to Shock Wave, a move that Kyle knew was basically impossible to dodge, so he cringed and braced himself for the impact. He probably should have moved as far back as Chikoro did. Sure enough, the blast's diameter was just large enough for Kyle to be in its range, and he recoiled back a little. The heat didn't bother him, but the force was equal to being winded, and that was never pleasant.

Once the move subsided, Kyle opened his eyes and surveyed the damage.

Blue was still standing, taking deep breaths but otherwise unharmed. Emmy looked like she had ducked for cover at the last second, since she was brushing her hair back into place with a smug smile. Roo, however… yikes.

"Friggin' ow, man," Roo somehow managed to mumble. His voice was usually rough, but now it sounded like his throat was made of charred bark. The rest of his body looked like it was, too – even his ruby red claws looked toasted. He lay sprawled on the ground, and something told Kyle that he wasn't going to get up for a while.

"You held back!" Emmy accused.

"Of course I did!" Blue looked offended. "I wasn't going to kill him, and nobody can make me!"

"You were holding back?" Kyle said quietly as Chikoro ran up to Roo, eyes bulging.

Chikoro leaned over Roo. "Oh, god, I think you'll need more than one burn heal."

"A rawst berry smoothie would be nice," Roo said.

Just then, a Roselia walked into the clearing. "Oh my," she said.

"Hi, Seri," Roo said. "Gonna have to cancel that date."

Kyle massaged his temple. He kept an eye on Blue, who continued to argue with his sister about how much firepower he had used, and let out a sigh.

He couldn't handle these kids. Not alone.


	13. Chapter 13

"I've got to admit, colour me impressed!" Roo chugged his fifth green smoothie. "I don't think I've ever been beaten that badly."

His flesh was still patchy, even after the trip to the Pokémon Center, but he seemed to be taking it in stride. His girlfriend fussed over him, sitting on his lap and sending a waft of sweet, perfumed air around him every few minutes as Roo's personal Aromatherapy. Chikoro sat to his right, frowning at Emmy, who was across from him. Kyle frowned and turned to the right to face Blue.

"I'm really sorry," Blue said. He tapped his fingers on the glass table as his eyes darted around the plaza. Evidently, coffee shops and bakeries were really interesting for a boy who had never been out of the desert.

"Seriously, though, who are you?" Roo's eyes lit up.

Blue frowned. "Um, I'm Blue."

"Oh, please. He's Crown Prince Blue Saphiron Holly, next in line for the Orréan throne," Emmy said.

"Shut up!" Blue's face flushed red. Kyle didn't blame him. Blue _Saphiron_? Why would any version of Kevin name his kid that?

"Holly?" Chikoro said, staring at Kyle.

"Holly," Kyle repeated, raising an eyebrow. "So he really raised you two as royalty, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Emmy said. "We _are_ royalty, aren't we?"

Kyle nodded. "I mean, technically, yeah. Mom was a princess before she ran away."

"What?" Chikoro said, blinking rapidly. "Hold on, Slickky never mentioned anything like that!"

"Kevin bears a grudge against our mom's side of the family. It doesn't surprise me that he never said anything." Kyle breathed through his nose. "It also wouldn't surprise me if he _forgot_. It's not like Mom brings it up, either."

Roo blinked. "Wow, a prince. So that makes the little brat a princess, too?"

Emmy stuck her tongue out at him. "Princess Emera Jade Holly, second in line for the Orréan throne!"

Roo grinned. "That so? You wouldn't happen to have any good looking cousins, would you?" Roo winked. His girlfriend huffed, glaring up at him. He blinked at her, startled. "Oh, uh, sorry, Seri. I didn't—"

"I think we should see other people. It's clear to me now that you're too rude and reckless." She hopped off his lap and began to walk away.

Roo stared after her. "Yeah, well— You're too judgemental!" he called, puffing out his cheek. He turned to Chikoro. "I'm starting to think that good Sinnoh girls are just as hard to find as Hoenn ones."

Chikoro blinked. "I'm starting to think that you aren't very good at dating."

Kyle coughed. Everyone turned towards him.

"The current ruler of Mount Chimney – Red Mountain, as the locals call it – is my maternal cousin," Kyle said. Roo perked up. "But she's also kind of a dictator and probably married."

Roo's jaw dropped. "Aw, come on…"

"I had no idea we had other family." Blue's eyes widened. Kyle shrugged.

"Sure you do. But you know, it's not just blood relations and last names. Whatever royal connections I may have don't matter, since I've got a bunch of friends who are much better people than the ones over on that mountain. Like Stella and Ero, they're like family to me."

"What about these guys?" asked Blue, motioning at Roo and Chikoro.

"Ha," Chikoro said, his eyes half closed.

Roo laughed. "I just came here for the tournament…"

"Chikoro – that's the guy with the leaf – is Kevin's best friend." Kyle made a face. "And, um, I don't really know Roo at all."

"No worries," Roo chirped. "I'm a competitive battler. The first without a trainer! And honestly, Blue, I think you'd be even better than me – maybe even the best in the world!"

Blue frowned. "No way."

"Uh, yeah way," Roo said.

"No! I hate hurting people, and I'd never do it just to prove I'm the best! I managed to keep myself from wounding you beyond recovery, but who's to say that I can do that again? I'm not taking part in any more killings!" Blue glared.

Roo's expression faltered. "Killings? What are you talking about?"

Blue breathed and turned his face away. "I told you. I don't like hurting people."

Kyle paled. "Blue… Wait, you can't mean—"

"I never wanted to," Blue said. "But Lord Shade said—"

He cut himself off, shaking his head. "No, that's not an excuse. I should have attacked _him_. Then I could have gotten away before."

Emmy frowned. "By yourself? You think?"

"Okay, so," Chikoro said loudly, "let me get this straight. I'm sitting at the same table as a prepubescent murderer?"

Kyle growled at him. He turned to Blue. "They made you kill people? And it wasn't for food?"

Blue nodded. "He said that it would make me stronger."

Kyle blinked. There it was again, that phrase. Was that all it took to brainwash kids into thinking that they should follow every order, every command that Lord Shade gave? There was no way… They had to know, innately, that being strong wasn't everything, that murdering people in cold blood wasn't going to make anyone stronger.

But Blue was shaking, and the air around them had taken on a horrifying feel. Kyle's body felt heavy as the conversation hung.

"He had to be lying, right?" Blue's eyes went into a panicked frenzy. "Because… Because the heroes never hurt people, unless they were bad. And I'm… a good person… and I never wanted to…"

"Of course," Kyle said. He felt more sympathetic than ever. Four or five hours of training a day. That was four or five hours of hurting people and taking innocent lives. "Blue, I… I'm getting you into some kind of counselling. You too, Emmy."

Blue's sister frowned. "They never made me do any of that."

"I don't care. You're six years old and you were encouraging your brother to 'slice him up'." Kyle glanced at Roo, who blinked. "The both of you are a lot less well-adjusted than I thought."

"Where did you even find these kids?" Chikoro muttered.

"In some alternate dimension or something. I'm not really sure." Kyle kept his eyes on Blue and Emmy. "It doesn't matter, though. I'm going to help them."

"Okay then." Chikoro raised his eyebrows. "An alternate dimension. Sounds plausible."

Roo shrugged. "I've seen weirder. I had this ex, let me tell you…"

* * *

"Come to introduce me to the darling orphans you adopted?" Kari's mouth twisted into a smirk. It wasn't a mean one, though. It looked like the ones she used to have.

Kyle crossed his arms. He leaned onto the outside wall of his cave, gazing at the forest in the distance. "Kevin told you, huh?"

"He told me you tried to play a nasty trick on him, yeah. Where'd you find kids with blue and green eyes?" Kari asked.

"In my dreams," Kyle said. Kari snorted.

"I haven't heard you joke in a long time, Kyle," she said.

"I'm not joking. That's really where they're from," Kyle said. He bit his lip. "I've tried saying 'alternate universe', or 'another dimension', and stuff like that, but nobody wants to believe me."

"Maybe that's because you're lying," Kari said. She gave him a hard stare. "Badly, too. They're yours, aren't they?"

"No, they're _not_ —"

"Kevin said their mother's name is Vera," Kari said. "That's Little's mother, isn't it?"

Kyle froze.

"Who else could it be, Kyle? Those eye colours aren't normal. And we both know that it can't be Kevin, because those children are way too old to be his. So unless you want to tell me that _your father_ is responsible for them…"

"Hold on," Kyle spluttered. " _No_. I have brown eyes—"

"And your brother has blue eyes," Kari said. "The human eye colour genes and yours are probably both dominant. That's easy enough to tell from looking at the two of you. Just admit it, Kyle. You're not fooling anyone with these crazy stories."

Kyle stared at her. "You've made up your mind."

"I have," she said.

He let out a breath. "Wow. So that's that."

"Looks like," Kari said.

He got up, dusting off his sweater. "A word of advice, Kari? Maybe you should try talking to the kids before you decide whose they are. They'll tell you I'm their uncle. Because _that's the truth_."

"Little also would have said you were his uncle until a few days ago," Kari said.

Kyle swore.

* * *

"I have _more_ grandchildren?" his mother said. " _Life of the sun_ …"

She sat on the couch, one hand covering her mouth in deep contemplation. Kyle nodded.

"I'm not their father, though," Kyle said. "They're Kevin's, from another world."

"Another world?" she said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I was having these dreams, and they were in them, and then they escaped with me…" Kyle ran a hand through his hair. He was getting worse and worse with each explanation.

His mother stared at him for a long time, her expression unchanged. Finally, she sighed, shaking her head.

"Your father would tell me that stuff like that can't happen," she said.

Kyle's hands fell limp at his sides. "Yeah, I guess he would."

* * *

"What do you mean, _more_ grandchildren?! I didn't know I had _any_!"

Kyle paled, his mouth opening slightly as he watched the man on the other end of the videophone spill his coffee. He blinked rapidly.

"I-I thought… Kevin called you, or something…" Kyle said.

"No, he sure as hell didn't!" Cory shouted. His face was red. "You're not telling me that he and that Torterra girl—"

"NO!" Kyle shouted. His face turned just as red, and he prayed that nobody had heard his father through the receiver besides him. "Um… They… They're all Chimchar… Well, one's evolved, but… Little is, uh, mine. And the other two are Kevin's."

"Little? That Little?" Cory rested his arms in the spilled coffee on his desk, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah. That Little," Kyle said.

Cory pushed his glasses up his nose. "Oh."

Kyle suddenly felt like he was getting horribly judged. "Don't get the wrong idea…"

"I… I won't, I just…" Cory looked to the side. "That's more something I'd expect of your Uncle Nick, that's all."

"Um… Thanks?" Kyle said, unsure if that was a compliment.

"So, the other two…" Cory said.

"Kevin's kids. But from another dimension, or reality. I swear on my life," Kyle said.

"Another dimension," Cory repeated, wearily.

Kyle nodded. "Yes. You have to believe me."

But he knew once he said that, it was already a lost cause. "Son, you're talking to a scientist, here…"

* * *

"Nobody believes that you're Kevin's kids," Kyle said to Blue and Emmy as they ate their ham and cheese sandwiches.

"Really?" Emmy asked.

"Really," Kyle affirmed. He slumped on the counter, resting his chin in his hand. "Consequently, everyone thinks that you're mine."

"Really?" Blue smirked in amusement.

" _Really_ ," Kyle said.

Emmy paused for a second, chewing thoughtfully, and said, "I don't mind."

"Neither do I, to be honest," Blue said. "I like you way more than Dad."

"Guys, I like you too, but it's not a good thing that they think I'm your dad. They think that you only exist because I was irresponsible and— Well…" Kyle frowned. How did people talk to kids?

"Oh, I think I get it," Blue said.

"You do?" Kyle said, bewildered.

"It's 'cause you're supposed to get married before you have kids, right? And you and Mom aren't married," Blue said.

Kyle blinked. "Um, something like that. It's less that Vera and I aren't married and more that I never intend to marry her, ever." Saying that out loud felt… weird.

"Good idea," Blue said, although he frowned. "You'd probably fight a lot."

"Yeah," Kyle mumbled, thinking back to his and Vera's angry conversation before Blue had broken them out through the window. Then he remembered their _other_ conversation and shuddered.

"So who _do_ you want to marry?" Emmy's eyes were bright.

"Uh," Kyle said, feeling himself blush. What the hell? It wasn't that embarrassing, and she was six! There was no reason to be embarrassed! None!

"Emmy," Blue said, noticing Kyle's face. "Don't bother him."

"No, it's fine." Kyle waved a hand and managed to will away the heat in his face. "Just caught me off guard. I used to be able to answer that, but… I guess I want to marry somebody who understands me. Somebody who knows I make mistakes, but believes in me. Somebody I can trust."

Emmy tilted her head. "So, you don't know?"

"The person who used to be like that isn't like that anymore." Kyle swallowed a lump in his throat.

"That must be pretty sad," said Blue. He put his sandwich down. "Especially if you still love them."

"It is," Kyle said. "And I do."

"But…" Blue said. He fidgeted.

"What?" Kyle asked.

Blue sighed. "You know, Dad got really sad after Mom died. I think, maybe, if he had thought about the other people he loves, he wouldn't have gotten so sad, and he wouldn't have tried to bring you and Mom back."

Kyle frowned. "So, you're saying…"

"You said that your friends are like your family, right?" Blue said. "So think about how much you love them, and us. I think you might be a little happier if you do." Blue smiled.

Kyle stared. "For someone who needs to go to counselling for trauma, you sure are good at cheering people up," he said. He smiled.

"Aww," Stella cooed.

Kyle turned. Stella had just come down the entrance tunnel, her tail securely holding a few packages of cupcakes that were precariously balanced on her back. She beamed at him.

"Can I just say that that's the sweetest I've ever seen you be, Boss?" Stella said.

"Oh, come on, I'm plenty sweet." Kyle smirked. "Those for these guys?"

"Yep!" she said.

Emmy stared hungrily at the cupcakes. Blue raised an eyebrow at her, as if to question her appetite right after they'd just had sandwiches. Kyle laughed and slid off his stool, taking the cupcakes from Stella and placing them in front of Emmy on the counter. She tore the packaging apart gleefully.

"Thank you!" she squealed.

Kyle smirked at the scene until Stella nudged him. She motioned to the other side of the room, and Kyle walked a few feet over to give her a semi-private audience. "What is it?"

"About the counselling," Stella said.

"What about it?"

Stella frowned. "I can't find anyone who takes Pokémon patients."

"You've got to be kidding." Kyle glanced at Blue, who was peeling a wrapper off of a cupcake that Emmy had already licked clean. "Why not?"

"They all say they're unqualified to handle Pokémon," Stella said. "Pokémon have a lot of different experiences that are hard for humans to understand. They said that you taught them that."

"Damn it," he muttered.

"I'll keep trying," Stella said. She smiled half-heartedly. "There used to be a branch of psychology devoted to Pokémon. The only problem is, most of the people in that field lost their credibility when you came around."

"Nah, it's probably better if they don't see a human like that. They probably wouldn't believe anything they've gone through. We need someone who won't question that what they're saying is the truth," Kyle said.

"You mean like an empath?" Stella asked.

"That's…?" Kyle started.

"Somebody who can read emotions. Like a psychic," she explained.

"Oh, so even hokier than a Pokémon psychologist," Kyle said.

"Not necessarily!" Stella said indignantly.

Kyle shrugged. "The dream eating woman told me that I wasn't dreaming. I don't know if I really trust them."

"But you said yourself that you weren't _really_ dreaming," Stella said. "Besides, can you think of anyone better?"

He stopped himself from saying "me" by biting his tongue. Stella noticed.

"You're behind on work," she said. "Even without that speech for Stark Mountain, you've got that interview I had to reschedule, the photoshoot for it, Roxy's engagement party—"

"What? I thought only you were going to that," he said.

Stella narrowed her eyes. "Uh, _no_. You promised me last month you'd be my date."

He blinked.

"You forgot!" She huffed. "Wow."

"Stell, I wasn't sleeping— You know my memory has suffered lately!"

"I understand forgetting an interview or two, but Roxy is our friend!"

"She's _your_ friend, and you could take literally anyone to that party—"

"Well, I want to take you!"

She glared at him, her ears flattening back. He sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Sorry."

"Did we not go and get you a suit a couple weeks ago?" Stella said, her glare steady.

"I think I thought that it was for the photoshoot," Kyle said. "I was really tired that day."

"And what did you think my accessories were for?" she asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know, maybe you just wanted to wear them. It wouldn't be the first time."

Stella sighed. "You should get some sleep. And call your dad about any psychics that might be able to help those two."

Kyle grimaced. "I, um, called him today, and…"

"Don't tell me you burned _all_ your bridges!" Stella craned her neck towards him.

"I think I made friends with that kid who keeps battling Chikoro right by the front door, actually," Kyle said.

"The really cute one?" Stella said, blinking.

"I also witnessed him break up with his third girlfriend in three days," Kyle said flatly.

"Yeah, well, the cute ones always have problems like that," she muttered. Seeing Kyle's face, she said, "I mean, not that it matters. He's way too young for me, anyway."

"Mm," Kyle said. He crossed his arms.

Stella composed herself. "Right, well, I should get back to business. I'll call your dad for you, too, I guess. Just do me a favour and don't make anyone else angry with you, okay?"

"I'll try," he said. He watched her make her way down the hall, presumably to get the phone call out of the way first. He pursed his lips.

The cute ones always have problems? What was that supposed to mean?

(Well, gee, maybe it meant that he had problems.)

He furrowed his eyebrows.

"So, if you're not a lord or a king, just the Shade," Emmy said from across the room, her mouth full of icing, "then what is she supposed to be?"

Kyle shrugged, walking back to them. "She's a Shade, too. Just not _the_ Shade. But second in command, if it boiled down to that."

"That sounds like a queen to me," Emmy said.

Kyle blinked. "You should tell her that. I bet she'd like it better than 'cold lady'."

"What about Ero?" Blue asked.

"Third in command," Kyle said. "Like a court advisor or something, I guess. I don't really know medieval terminology."

"Chikoro? And that liar, Roo?" Emmy asked.

"Pfft. Peasants," Kyle said with a smirk.

She seemed to like that description, since she giggled and grinned at him over the top of her cupcake. Blue smiled at her softly. Kyle sighed. It was happy, though. He could get used to this.

That's when it hit him. He could get used to this. He really could. And if he could with two kids, he could certainly do it with Little, too.

Well, Kevin would see, soon enough. He'd prove it.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, hold up," Kyle called, running up the tunnel.

Kevin sighed, turning around. "What?"

"We're going with you," Blue said. He emerged with his sister behind Kyle with a smile on his face. "We want to meet our cousin!"

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Um, I mean, brother," Blue said, blinking.

"Are you serious?" Kevin looked pointedly at Kyle, then at the kids.

"It's not like I'm trying to stop you from taking Little back to Petalburg Woods." Kyle frowned. "But you know, they're excited about meeting new family. They didn't really get much of that before."

That wasn't the only reason, but it was the only one that would make sense to Kevin. Kyle's brother, who now looked more tired than angry, took a deep breath, his eyebrows knotting together as he exhaled.

"It was supposed to be a two second stop, and now you want to make it a play date? You're a real pain, Ky." Kevin grimaced.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "I'll give you five dollars."

"Ten."

"Fine." Kyle took out his wallet. He was lucky he even had ten dollars in there, what with buying all those emergency smoothies for a certain toasted grass type. He handed the money to Kevin, who smirked and glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey, Chicky! Quick change of plans. You go ahead with Mom, I'll be there after I get Little," he said.

Chikoro shrugged. "All right, then."

"Oh, and take this." Kevin flashed the bill in his hand.

"Can I use it?" Chikoro asked.

"No… Unless you get us milkshakes or something," Kevin said.

"Sweet." Chikoro took the money, raised his eyebrows at Kyle, and then headed towards Kyle's mother, who was already mounting the Pidgeot taking her home.

"All right, then." Kevin crossed his arms. "I guess I'll wait a few more minutes for your pilot to arrive."

Kyle nodded, and the conversation died. Blue and Emmy remained at his side, staying silent.

He was really, truly grateful that Kevin hadn't left when he said he was going to, earlier, because he'd realized at some point that Vera would likely be very, very terrified if Kevin suddenly showed up at her door to tear Little away. He was also happy for an excuse to go with Kevin to at least see Little again, even if it was to introduce him to more "mystery children", as Kevin put it. But then again, Little was so strange, maybe he wouldn't be quite as angry as everyone else.

…He was doing it again, he noted. Even though he knew without a doubt that Blue and Emmy weren't his kids, he was treating them like they were. But this time was different, wasn't it? He _wanted_ to take care of Blue and Emmy, even if it was only because Kevin wouldn't. It hadn't been like that with Little.

It really should have been like that with Little. But it wasn't. And there was a nagging pain somewhere inside him that Kyle knew would never let him forget it.

Their pilot arrived (a big, fluffy Altaria meant for flights with more than two passengers) and Kevin nodded, making his way to his Pidgeot. Kyle helped Emmy up onto the Altaria and then climbed up himself, with Blue taking a seat near the pilot's neck, and then they were all off into the skies.

Blue loved flying. He didn't really look it, but judging by his reaction to soaring through the sky and walking across the castle roof during their daring escape, Kyle figured that his nephew was a bit of a thrill-seeker. In particular, Blue seemed to enjoy the view the most. His jaw dropped at the sight of ocean as far as they could see beneath them, and it looked like he was trying to remember every single detail in the waves and islands below.

Conversely, Emmy _hated_ it. As soon as they were off the ground she buried herself in a mass of cotton feathers and Kyle's sweater and refused to come out. Kyle gave her a sympathetic smile, even though she couldn't see it, and started to pet her back gently.

"There's something you guys should probably know before we get there," Kyle said after a few minutes of flying. Blue glanced at him, while the Altaria continued to focus on her journey. Good. He hated pilots like Fabian who listened in on private matters, or worse, tried to give him advice. He cleared his throat. "About Little. You're cousins, yeah, but technically…"

Blue blinked.

"You're half-siblings, too. You guys have the same mother." Kyle frowned. Too blunt? But how else was he supposed to say something like that?

"What?" Blue's face fell. "But you said… You weren't going to marry Mom, ever."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I know. I meant it."

"Then why would you have a kid with somebody you didn't want to marry?" Blue turned away. Oh, great. Just great.

"It's not that simple," Kyle said. "I wasn't _trying_ to have a kid. I wasn't even— It was just an accident, okay?"

"Married people have kids by accident," Blue said. His voice seemed almost poisonous.

Kyle's eyes widened. Where did _that_ come from? "Um… _yes_ , but so can unmarried people. And it's mostly with unmarried people that accidental kids are a huge problem. But… anyway! It'd be nice if you didn't get mad at me. Everyone else already is."

Blue shrugged. "Whatever."

Kyle's mouth went thin. Well, he'd gone and broken his promise to Stella. Again. This time with one of the people he thought would never even be mildly upset with him. "Blue," he tried, hating the tension.

"You know what Mom liked to talk about after Dad brought her back?" Blue asked, still not looking at him. "How pretty the mountains were, and the flowers, and this one guy she met once who she really missed. Was that you?"

Kyle stared at the back of Blue's head. "What?"

"She loves you. But you… you don't even _like_ her. Why would you be so mean?" Blue's shoulders tensed. Emmy peeked out from behind the mass of feathers, an anxious look clouding her face.

Kyle sighed. He looked to the left. There was nothing but sky.

"It doesn't work that way, Blue," he said.

"Well, it should!" Blue said. "If somebody loved me, I'd love them back!"

"Even if you'd never met them before?" Kyle asked. "Even if there were other people you knew who loved you just as much?"

Blue's shoulders fell a little. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there are two people very close to me who I'd really like to make happy," Kyle said. "But I'm not much of a polygamist, so it's not like I can marry both of them. And that's not even considering whoever else has feelings for me, just because they admire me or whatever. I _wish_ I could make things work between me and Vera, or me and anyone else for that matter, but I can't, because the one person I actually want to be with doesn't love me back. So I'm sorry, Blue, but I'm not going to return Vera's feelings. Not when there are other people I care about more."

He inhaled sharply, and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Blue was quiet. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned around again, his face apologetic, timid, even.

"I am, too," Blue said.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Kyle muttered.

Blue shrugged. "I was being selfish."

"What? No," Kyle said. He watched the clouds pass by. "You just want a stable family again. I get that. It's hard with only one parent."

"I don't think it's that bad," Emmy said softly.

Kyle glanced at her. "Well, I do."

Blue tentatively turned back to the front. "What happened to your parents, anyway? Dad said they died when you were little, but…"

"I can't say for sure what may have happened in your world." Kyle shrugged. He hoped in the back of his mind that Overlord had lied, though. Picturing his parents dead wasn't exactly pleasant. "Both of _my_ parents are alive, though. My dad left when I was younger, but he's around now. He's the guy I called earlier."

"Oh," Blue said. "And your mom?"

"She was just visiting. She went with Chikoro on that other pilot," Kyle said.

"So we could have met our grandma?" Emmy's voice was muffled.

"Well… no," Kyle muttered. "She didn't really… Well… Maybe you should have. That might have convinced her better."

Blue sighed. "What do we have to do to prove we're real?"

Good question. Kyle frowned, leaning back slightly. What did it take to convince people that alternate realities and other worlds existed? Probably not anything that could be said in one conversation, he admitted. He'd been stuck in another world every night for three months, after all, and only now, after he'd returned with Blue and Emmy, did he really believe he'd gone somewhere else entirely in his dreams. And nobody else had had that physical experience. But… Stella and Ero believed him. They were pretty skeptical, true, but even they couldn't deny the fact that Blue and Emmy had popped up out of nowhere.

So maybe, if everyone just _trusted_ him, Blue and Emmy wouldn't be shunned for being something they weren't. But how was he supposed to do that?

"I'm not sure," Kyle said.

"Great," Blue said.

"I don't think there's much you guys can do," Kyle said. "I think it's all on me. If I can salvage my relationships, then people might start believing me again."

"Like the boy who cried wolf?" Emmy said.

Kyle blinked. "Yeah, I guess. You know that old story?"

"We know a lot of stories," Blue said. His gaze turned to the sky as he began to recall them. "Fairy tales, folk tales, legends… We did a lot of reading with Miss Kari and on our own when Dad was busy. And that was a lot."

"You wouldn't happen to know _Sinnoh Folk Tales_ , would you?" The corners of Kyle's mouth turned up. He couldn't help it; every time he heard that a Pokémon had even _touched_ a book…

"Oh, that's…" Blue said. "'Look not into the Pokémon's eyes'…"

Kyle shook his head. "No, that's one of the Sinnoh _myths_. 'A Horrific Myth', I think it was called. Close, though."

"So, you know a lot of stories, too?" Emmy said.

Kyle laughed. "Well, I _did_ spend a summer in a library…"

He was probably the first Pokémon to bond with his niece and nephew over books, he thought later. Not that many Pokémon knew how to read that well, and even if they did, books were harder to come by. But seeing the looks on their faces when he told them stories they'd never heard of made him pretty darn happy with that distinction. He'd have to take them to the library, one day, if he ever got the courage to return there himself.

* * *

Kevin was waiting on Jagged Pass when they landed, his leg bouncing impatiently.

"All right, we're here. I guess you can lead the way," Kevin said.

Kyle pursed his lips. "So what were you planning to do without me?"

"I don't know, follow the trail of golden feathers or something," Kevin muttered. His sour expression turned into a small smirk. "It can't be that hard to find anyone here, though. Isn't the population, like, five hundred?"

Kyle nodded. It was pretty sad, actually – compared to Stark Mountain, the Mount Chimney kingdom had crumbled. According to his mother, there had been an epidemic sometime in the 1950s that had wiped out a good portion of the female population, and left most of the survivors unable to have children. Apparently, traces of the epidemic still lingered, too – the ratio of healthy men to women was a paltry seven to one. They were still around, but Kyle doubted they'd be able to struggle through for more than a few more generations. Then again, the clan was so outdated in their ideologies and social constructs that maybe it was a good thing they wouldn't last much longer without branching out.

It wasn't like he _hated_ Mount Chimney, but the whole classist attitude and "death to all who are different from us" mentality just didn't sit right with him. He was a Pokémon rights activist, after all.

He led the way once again, this time with a different set of tourists to avoid. He wondered if any of them were repeat visitors from the other day, or if walking around with his brother and two kids looked any worse than when it was just him and Little. Either way, there was definitely going to be a photo of him _somewhere_ in the media within the next week, and there wasn't much that he or Stella could do to prevent it. He just hoped that nobody would draw the wrong conclusions, whatever conclusions they could possibly be.

Suddenly, Emmy made a noise of surprise. "Blue, your tail is—"

Blue whipped his tail in front of him. "Huh? It's fine."

"No, I mean, _his_ tail…" Emmy bit her lip, staring at Kevin.

Kyle followed her gaze and instantly understood what was bothering her. Kevin's tail had an old scar right around the spot that Blue had recently cut himself. It was a creepy coincidence… if that was all it was. Probably. Kyle had certainly never noticed the scar before, but he also knew scars well enough to know that Kevin's wasn't fresh. Kevin's eyes flicked from his tail to Blue's, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Mine's a bite wound," he said. "That's a clean cut. They're unrelated."

Blue frowned. "Yours looks like it hurt."

Kevin shrugged. "Nah. Unlike some people, I don't care too much about my scars." He eyed Kyle darkly.

"Oh, come on. You only have one, and it's so inconspicuous that I didn't even know you had it," Kyle said.

"So? You make yours such a big deal. Do you see Kari going around with an eye patch?" Kevin retorted.

Kyle glared. "Maybe not, but she's the one who gave my sweater to me—"

"Because you're a coward—"

"You have a scar?" Blue stared wide eyed at Kyle.

"Uh," Kyle said. He blinked and looked around. They were out of the tourists' earshot, now. "Well… yeah. A few. Under my sweater."

"But that means— Oh, Arceus. I'm so sorry, Uncle Kyle!" Blue gripped his arms. He looked a lot like his mother, holding himself together like that.

"It's fine, it happened ages ago." Kyle shook his head.

"No, but… You said, 'I'd take a few broken knuckles to a hundred battle scars'. And then I said…" Blue faltered.

Kyle bit his tongue. "…Yeah. I know. It's okay. For whatever reason, I didn't have them, there."

"Still, I… I thought you were being really weird about the window, but I… I never thought—"

"It's fine, Blue. You couldn't see them," Kyle said.

"I'm sorry," Blue whispered.

Kevin looked at Blue, a weird expression on his face. "What are you talking about?"

Kyle sighed. "Something you don't believe in."

He could tell that Kevin was nowhere near satisfied with that answer, but his brother didn't press it. Kyle walked a few steps further up, putting a foot or two more distance between him and Kevin, before nodding to Blue. Blue hastened his pace to catch up, his eyes still looking guilty.

"Listen. It's okay," Kyle said.

Blue shook his head. "I'm on a roll with saying the wrong things."

Kyle allowed himself to laugh. "I know what that's like."

"So you got injured from breaking a window?" he asked quietly.

Kyle nodded. The laugh disappeared. It replaced itself with a shiver, not unlike the one Kyle had experienced while in Lord Shade's presence, crawling down his front and coming to an uncomfortable rest at his diaphragm. "Yeah. I was trying to escape from somewhere."

"Okay," Blue said. He glanced at his tail. It flicked. "I won't make you do that again, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it," Kyle said. And just like that, the trickle of pain dissolved.

* * *

When Kyle showed up at her door again, Vera screamed anyway. Apparently she had convinced herself that the whole castle thing was just a really bad nightmare, and that she'd never see her dream-children again. Evidently, she was wrong.

Kyle had expected Blue to run up and hug her or something, but he stayed back, uncharacteristically staying close to Kyle's leg as if he was a shy toddler. Emmy just stared at her with a blank look on her face. Once Vera got over her initial shock, she offered everyone food and drink, but quickly retracted once she saw the dark look on Kevin's face. Kyle had to admit, he felt a little sorry for her, now. She wasn't exactly a queen anymore.

"I'm Little's uncle." Kevin narrowed his eyes at her and kept his arms crossed tightly against his chest. "I've been taking care of him for seven years, and I'll be taking care of him until he can take care of himself. Are we clear?"

Vera nodded, her eyes locked on his. "I… Y-yes. But what about…?"

Kevin glanced back at Blue and Emmy. "As far as I know, those two are yours. Kyle _says_ they're not his, but I think we both know the truth."

Vera blinked. She sent Kyle a look, then turned back to Kevin. "Um… hmm."

"Right. So where is he?" Kevin said.

Little was in Vera's room, so Kevin brushed past her to find him. Vera stayed by the doorway, looking every bit as nauseous as Kyle had felt the last time he had been there. She turned to Kyle, looking him up and down, then Blue and Emmy.

"So… he wasn't lying when he said he was your…" Vera's voice was weak.

Kyle shook his head. "No, he wasn't. He really is my brother."

"I thought I had seen him somewhere before." Her eyes narrowed. She looked stern, like an old image of a human schoolteacher. "But he wasn't dreaming like us?"

"No," Kyle said.

She took a deep breath. "This is too much. When I woke up and I was back home, I didn't… I wasn't sure what to think. But now you're here again, and you brought them…"

Blue stared at her. "You didn't think we were real?"

"No, I… I'm just so confused…" Vera wiped at one of her eyes.

At that moment, Kevin emerged from Vera's cave, with Little perched happily on his shoulder.

"Hey Dad!" Little waved. "Uncle Slickky said I've got brothers and sisters or something?"

Emmy studied him. "Hey, he doesn't have blue eyes, either."

"Not even green," Blue muttered. "This world is weird."

Little blinked at them. "… _You're_ weird."

"Um, yeah. Half-siblings, and also cousins." Kyle ignored the glare he knew Kevin was giving him. "Blue's the boy, and Emmy's the girl. You guys, this is Little."

Blue and Emmy frowned.

"He looks nothing like us," Emmy said. "Are you sure we have the same mom?"

Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but he thought better of it. Anything he said – the fact that Little and Emmy shared a pointed face, that he was positive that Little had a miniature version of Blue's lanky body type – would probably be used as evidence against him for Blue and Emmy's parentage. And really, they did look more different than similar, just like Kyle and his own brother did. If they needed solid evidence, nothing would really be sufficient, short of a DNA test—

"Damn it," he said. "Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

Kevin laughed. "Oh, so— Did you really just realize how convoluted this entire mess is?"

"No, I just— A DNA test. If I get Dad to run a DNA test, and it comes back positive for you, will you believe me?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. " _No_. For the love of Arceus, Kyle, what part of 'that's impossible' don't you understand?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but can I come down?" Little asked.

Kevin blinked rapidly. "Well— I guess."

Little hopped down from Kevin's shoulder, landing gracefully. He stretched his arms, stepping closer to Blue and Emmy. He frowned at Emmy, his eyes darting up to the top of her head. No doubt he was jealous of her extra inch of height. And Blue, well… he was two foot ten. He towered over them both.

"How old are you?" Little said, his voice critical. The way he posed it, it sounded like something Chikoro would say.

"Six," Emmy said.

"Almost ten," Blue replied.

Little narrowed his eyes. "Did you know Mom?"

Oh, yikes. Kyle's arms tensed, but Blue was calm.

"Yes, we did. But we never knew _this_ version of her." He glanced at Vera, a flash of pain visible in his eyes. "It's kind of hard to understand, but we come from a different world, where people did different things. I'm still not sure about some things, but I know enough to know that your dad's really sorry about what happened to you."

Little's eyes widened. He looked at Kyle, then back to Blue. "Whoa, wait a minute! What? Dad told you everything?"

Kyle sighed. "I told Blue and Emmy about you to get some advice on how to talk to you better, Little. I went to the other world in my dreams. You remember I told you I was having problems sleeping, right?"

Little looked ready to accept the other world, if not for Kevin interrupting. "Little, don't listen to him. I don't know where these two came from, but he's lying—"

"He's telling the truth," Vera said.

Kevin stared at her in shock. "Are you kidding me? Now _you're_ backing him up?"

Vera bit her lip. She wrapped her arms more tightly around herself. "I had the same dreams about the other world. I don't think I had them for quite as long, but I was there long enough. I got to know Blue and Emmy's father more than I would have liked."

Kevin glared at her. "If you're going to say it's me—"

"I'm not. You don't look as old as him, or as scary. But their father's name is Kevin, and he has blue eyes and a brother named Kyle. He lives in another world." Kyle had to admire her courage. She didn't seem frightened.

Kevin's mouth was thin. "How do you know my name? Did Kyle tell you?"

"No, that's how he introduced himself," Vera said. She shuddered. "Kevin."

"He's usually more dramatic," Emmy said.

Blue shoved her. "Em!"

"Well, he is!" Emmy said. She crossed her arms. "Remember when he talked to all the guards, and he was all like, 'As lord of the Orréan Deserts, and your king, I command you to blah blah blah'…"

"You're not so different, are you, Crown Princess Emera Jade?" Kyle muttered.

"Emera Jade _Holly_ , second in line for—"

"We know, Emmy." Blue looked at the sky in exasperation.

"I don't," Little said. "If you're a princess, am I a prince?"

"Yes," Blue said, at the same time Kevin said "No."

Little whipped his head around to Kevin, who glared at Kyle. "Now they think they're royalty?"

"We are! Uncle Kyle said that your mom was a princess," Emmy said.

"What?" Kevin's mouth fell open.

"She was," Kyle confirmed. "But—"

"Since when?!" Kevin shouted.

"Since forever!" Kyle shouted back. He had wanted to calm down the chaos, but Kevin had to get on his nerves. "Don't you remember that guy, Inneo, and Mom's brother trying to kidnap me when we were younger? They wanted me because they needed the rightful heir or something—"

"They never said we were— But I'm older! I was older back then!" Kevin said indignantly.

"You have blue eyes!" Kyle said. "They weren't going to let you rule their kingdom!"

"Oh, what, because they thought I was a—"

 _"_ _Demon!"_ somebody screeched. Kyle looked up. Somehow, without them noticing, a crowd had formed on the outcroppings above them. Dozens of clan members, all brown-eyed, stared at them, some in utter terror, some in contempt. At the forefront of the crowd was a beautiful female Infernape with a pointed face and dark brown eyes – their cousin, the queen.

 _"_ _Life of the sun,"_ Kyle muttered. He realized that in the clan's native language, he was essentially cursing the queen herself, and cursed again at his poor word choice.

 _"_ _You should go,"_ Vera said in a whisper.

"Ch'yeah, maybe!" Kevin scoffed. His eyes were wide. He grabbed Little by the arm. "Little, c'mon."

 _"_ _Go with him!"_ Kyle glanced at Blue.

Blue stared. Emmy frowned at him. "What are you saying?"

Kyle's heart was loud in his chest. Of all the times in the world to learn that his niece and nephew couldn't understand Pokémon, now was pretty horrible. "Go, follow him!"

They darted away down the rocky pass. Kevin was pretty agile, but Blue was even quicker. The queen watched them, her eyes cold. She looked like she really wanted to send someone after them, but she didn't appear to have the resources. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, though, reinforcements arrived behind him. It would be difficult for him to run away, now, too. The queen turned her gaze to him, her head held high.

 _"_ _Well, now. If it isn't the famous Mr. Shade. Hanging around with the lowlifes again, I see."_ The queen tilted her head towards Vera and scowled. Had she been… around, the last time he was here? If he had run into the queen, drunk out of his mind… Oh god. He doubted it mattered that they were cousins.

 _"_ _I was just leaving,"_ Kyle said.

 _"_ _Really? You didn't sound like it."_ The queen's eyebrows shot up in amusement. _"See, I heard you talking about your royal background, or something silly like that? And I think I heard you claim something really absurd – that you were the proper heir?"_

 _"_ _Well, no, actually,"_ Kyle said. _"My older brother technically is, but apparently it doesn't count because you think he's a demon."_

The queen sneered. _"Of course he is. He has Nero's eyes."_

 _"_ _Your majesty,"_ Vera tried, but the queen shut her up with a dirty glare.

 _"_ _Nara of the lower class, I have tolerated your past acts of unscrupulous behaviour, but you have stepped over the line. Conspiring against the queen – that's a crime punishable by a life sentence at best, death at worst. Even if you are a healthy woman."_

Vera's voice caught in her throat. Holy hell. He definitely could say he hated Mount Chimney now. They were just as cruel as Lord Shade.

Kyle caught her eye and gave her a grim smile. He probably wasn't very reassuring, but he'd be damned if he ruined her life even more. _"What about exile instead?"_

The queen raised an eyebrow. _"That's hardly a punishment if she gets to spend the rest of her days with you,"_ she said.

Kyle bit his tongue for the second time in a day. _"I'll take that as a compliment."_

The queen smirked. She looked scarily familiar. _"And you. You've preached unforgivable propaganda that's been poisoning the youth of the clan. I can't let you continue."_

He wanted to laugh. She sounded just like the old farts at Stark Mountain when he'd made his first speech there. He had managed to run away from them just fine, so maybe he could get away here, too. He just needed to find the right opportunity, and then his natural speed would do the rest. And Vera… Well, she had already escaped one morbid monarchy with him. Why not try again?

 _"_ _You really think this is funny?"_ the queen growled. _"I'd like to see you laugh after a week without sunlight—"_

 _"_ _Bird!"_ Somebody pointed to the sky.

The queen growled. _"Do not interrupt me! What's so important about a—"_

A small tornado blew over Kyle and Vera's heads, crashing into the clan members atop the cliff and sending them flying into each other. The sound of howling wind mixed with screams of terror, and it was loud. What a delightful sound, Kyle thought, grimacing. He looked up again.

Flapping in place was a golden Pidgeot, cheery as ever. "Hey there, Mr. Shade! I was watching, I swear! Need a lift?"

He never thought he'd be so happy to see Fabian in his life. "Uh, yeah, if you don't mind."

Fabian landed gracefully beside him, ruffling his feathers. Kyle turned to Vera.

"Well? Come on," he said.

Vera stared at him. Her eyes darted to the tornado. "What? I thought…"

"There's another mountain? Called Stark?" Kyle raised his eyebrows. "You can live there. It's not the best, but it's way better than here. No evil queens, no death sentences. Uh, I think so, anyway. Ero can give you the details later."

He held out his hand to her, but she just stared at it.

"Why are you helping me? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me after the dreams," she said.

Kyle swallowed. "Like it or not, you're kind of tangled up in my life now, and I don't like leaving people to die at the hands of merciless rulers. So? Are you coming or not?"

She closed her eyes and sighed, glancing behind her at her tiny house. She turned back to him, nodding. "All right."

She took his hand. He tried not to flinch as he hoisted her onto Fabian and they took off, hopefully flying away to someplace safe.


	15. Chapter 15

Talk about his life turning upside down. The next couple of months went by quickly.

The newspapers had reported some bizarre story about a promotional stunt involving a shiny Pidgeot and "aspiring Shades members". It ended in disaster when a freak tornado blew by, knocking most of the potential recruits unconscious. How Stella had covered up all his family drama, he didn't know, but he thanked her by buying her six packages of cupcakes and a month's worth of her favourite iced coffee. He also offered to do her eyeliner more often, but she'd declined that for some reason.

Instead, she made him buy shoes for Roxy's engagement party, which he ended up attending as he promised. He instantly regretted it, though; the only humans there who weren't weary of him were Roxy and her fiancé. The rest of the guests either stared at him wildly or pretended he wasn't there. On top of that, the shoes were uncomfortable and hurt his feet, and he was pretty sure they were made out of leather.

"It's like if I bought you a fur coat," he muttered to Stella. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. The fabric of the suit pulled against him, and it felt especially tight around his neck. He grunted and yanked the collar of his shirt down. At this rate, he was going to burn off the buttons.

"It's not real leather. And would you stop fussing? You could look a little happy to be here," Stella said.

"Easy for you to say, you're barely wearing anything," he grumbled.

She sighed and raised her gaze to the chandelier. The silky, plum coloured ribbon around her neck reflected the light in a shimmer. "I'd love to wear a dress, you know."

"So would Emmy." He let out a breath. "She's really taken to Cynthia."

Blue and Emmy's counsellor, courtesy of Lilycove Laboratories, was a peppy Gardevoir named Cynthia who loved children. Kyle wasn't sure how that alone made her qualified for the job, but his father assured him that Gardevoir were the best Pokémon around for empathy. One had helped Kyle's Uncle Nick get back on his feet, and the two of them eventually even got together.

"Didn't he end up taking his own life anyway?" Kyle had asked, but Cory had waved him away and the topic was dropped. Evidently, it was still a sore subject, even twenty-five years later.

Stella made a face. "Do you think she'd want to go shopping with me?"

"Sure she would. You're the new queen, in her eyes," Kyle said. His compliment didn't have the intended effect, unfortunately. Stella frowned and turned away.

"How's the queen doing, anyway?" she asked.

The queen. Vera. A permanent guest at Stark Mountain. He hadn't realized it when he'd made the offer to move her there, but immigrants were rather unprecedented in Monferno communities. The Stark locals didn't seem to know what to do with her, and the fact that she'd been sent by the Shade didn't win her many favours with the older people in charge. Ero had thankfully stepped in and smoothed some things over, but Vera still didn't seem that happy. She lived in Ero's old room, with Ero's sister, Emin, keeping an eye on her. It was a step down from the master bedroom in a castle, but at least she was safe there.

Blue and Emmy wanted to go up the mountain to visit her several times, but Kyle managed to convince them that it was better if Vera made the trip down to HQ instead. He didn't know if Stark Mountain held much of a grudge against Blue and Emmy, but he certainly didn't want to find out the hard way. So Vera came over and bonded with her children, and Kyle found himself spending most of his days off watching the three of them.

The more time he spent with her, the more Kyle's brain decided that Vera was a kind woman who had merely suffered from misfortune her whole life. But the more time he spent with her, the more his gut told him that he couldn't trust her. She had a charming smile, but if he even grazed her in the hallway, his skin crawled. At least even Kevin could see that whenever he brought Little over. He didn't know if he could handle quips from his brother about having "some hooker" over every day.

"She's fine." Kyle scratched his neck.

"And you?" she asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I'm pretty good."

Stella glanced at him. "I know she makes you uneasy. Maybe if you talked about it—"

"That's okay," Kyle said quickly. Stella frowned at him.

"Boss, I've seen the look on your face when she talks to you. If I can help somehow, I want to." Her eyes softened.

He grimaced.

"Look," he said after a pause, "it's like when you're scared of a human. You know, that kind of anticipation when you're trying to judge if they're going to try to hurt you somehow. It's not rational. Nothing you can do is going to fix that."

"I can supervise her visits instead of you," Stella said.

"What? No," Kyle said. He sighed, chewing the inside of his cheek. "She's not a convicted criminal or anything. She's not dangerous."

"Maybe so, but I've also seen the way _she_ looks at _you_ , and if she tries anything, I want to be there to make sure she _doesn't_." Stella glared.

Kyle blinked. "…Oh."

"You had to save her life twice, didn't you?" Stella muttered.

"Yes, I did. You know that," he said.

He watched the crowd of humans mingling. None of them paid any attention to him. Good. He didn't really want anyone overhearing them right now.

"Serious question, though," Kyle said. "Do you think I'm leading her on?"

Stella laughed. "Everyone likes you, Boss."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "No, but… It happened with you. And Ero. Even Kari, to be honest. So I kind of have to ask."

She glanced at the chandelier again. He couldn't read her expression. Pensive, maybe? "Hmm. Well, I think she knows that she freaks you out a little. But that hasn't stopped you from being… I don't know, friendly? You don't treat her badly. I mean… I think that's what tripped me up."

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked.

Stella shrugged. "You were so nice to me when we met. I really wasn't expecting that, because you seem so formidable when you're up there, talking. I guess your kindness made you seem more attainable, because if you actually wanted to be friends with me, well…"

He stared at her. "You make me sound like I'm some, like, divine being or something."

Her cheeks went pink. "It's just how I felt when I was sixteen."

"But you're a movie star." He grinned at her.

"Your point?" She pouted back.

He shrugged. "I'm just saying. A lot of people would kill to have the chance to go out with somebody like you."

"Except you?" she said dryly.

"I told you, Stell. Only because of Kari," he said.

Here they were again. It wasn't too difficult to end up steering their conversation down this road. He liked to talk about the past, and Stella liked to talk about her feelings. That was how they ticked. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but he always seemed to end up feeling guilty. Kari always came up. Always.

"That reminds me," Stella said after their conversation had lulled for a moment. "I think that kid, Roo, wanted to ask me out on a date."

If he had a drink, he would have spat it out. "What?! When?"

Stella giggled. "A few days ago. He's pretty good at small talk."

"That's creepy as hell, Stella," Kyle said in distaste.

"Oh, calm down. It wasn't like that. He said hi, and asked what Chikoro and your brother were up to, then he asked about Blue. Then he asked me how old I was." Stella smiled. "He left pretty quickly after that."

"I don't know what's wrong with that kid," Kyle grumbled. Stella looked pretty good, but she definitely didn't look Roo's age. And she was a movie star. He was a competitive battling nut. That would be like Stella dating his brother, or Chikoro. Gross.

She smirked. "Well, for a fifteen-year-old, he sure has guts."

"He's fifteen? You're kidding." Kyle frowned. He'd have guessed Roo was closer to Kevin's age. "Why is he even here, still?"

Stella shrugged. "Maybe he dated every girl in the Hoenn region who would have him. But why are you asking me? You're his friend, aren't you?"

"Not really. Well… Maybe, I don't know. He's nice enough when he isn't training right outside my front door," Kyle said.

Roo was… Well, to put it bluntly, a weirdo. Maybe most people thought competitive battling was cool, but Kyle had always found battling fanboys like Roo or his brother to be total dorks. Combine that with the fact that Roo was either socially inept or the most charismatic person Kyle had ever met, and it was really hard to pin him down as anything in particular. Especially since he was never in the same place for more than five minutes at a time.

If there was one thing he could give Roo credit for, though, it was his persistence in trying to "train" Blue. After Blue had decided to swear off battling entirely, Roo had somehow managed to convince him to learn how to control himself and battle recreationally instead. Blue quite liked the idea of activities like contests, since half the time, the battles in those didn't even result in a knockout before the time ran out. (The idea still sounded kind of lame to Kyle, but he didn't mention that for his nephew's sake.)

He had hoped that Blue's interest in contests would maybe make Kevin more inclined to get to know the kid, but Kevin didn't seem to care, just like he didn't care when Kyle said he was actually going to go get the stupid DNA paternity test done. Then Kyle found out that he didn't have that kind of money to spare, and was once again left with nothing to convince Kevin of the truth. And now they were here, two months later and moving on with their lives.

"He's coming to Blue's birthday, right?" Kyle adjusted his collar again. One of the buttons popped off, and he made a face. Excellent.

"Who, Roo?"

Kyle blinked. "Huh? Oh, no, I meant Kevin. Roo will show up whether he's invited or not, I'm sure."

Stella smiled. "I'm sure your brother's coming. He said he would."

"Yeah," Kyle mumbled. He frowned.

"I can talk to Kari, and she can talk to him," Stella said.

Kyle sighed. He still couldn't believe that Stella was on better terms with Kari than he was at the moment. "That'd be great. Thanks, Stell."

"You're welcome. Now, try and have some fun. We're at a party!" She grinned.

* * *

Parties sucked.

Unless it was a party of three consisting of Stella, Ero, and himself, Kyle really hated large get-togethers. That was why he spent most of Little's birthday trying to sleep. It was even worse when he was the one organizing the whole thing, but now it was Blue's birthday.

Somehow, that made everything different.

"It shouldn't be different," Kyle muttered to himself as he tried half heartedly to maybe clean up the main room of the cave. When living underground, it was hard to tell what was dirty and what was just made of dirt.

"What shouldn't be different?" Roo asked. Kyle jumped and turned around, scowling.

"It's bad enough that you camp out three feet away from here, and now you're breaking in?" He meant for his tone to be accusatory, but somehow it just ended up more exhausted.

"Sorry." Roo shrugged, grinning anyway. "Um, it's just, I brought a cake again, and it's different from the last one. I thought that it might turn out better this time."

Kyle blinked. "Oh, thanks. You didn't have to do that."

He figured that Roo's cake-baking adventure had been a one-time thing, after the catastrophe that was Chikoro's birthday cake two weeks ago. (Was _everyone_ born in the spring?) Kyle hadn't been there himself, because honestly, Chikoro seemed to have a problem with him at the best of times, but he'd heard that Roo had made some weird spicy red cake recipe that was apparently good for Pokémon with Chikoro's nature. Where Roo had even learned how to bake, Kyle had no idea. Emmy had taken a huge bite without realizing that it wasn't red velvet flavoured, and the result was not pretty.

Roo shrugged. "Blue's my friend! And, uh, I really didn't mean to do that to his sister. I really didn't think she was calm…"

"She wasn't overreacting, if that's what you mean. I'd do the same thing," Kyle said.

"Oh, no, I meant calm natured. Likes bitter, hates spicy. I thought she would be hasty like Blue, or maybe sassy," Roo said.

Kyle blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Roo laughed. "That's okay. It's a super in-depth battling thing. Most Pokémon have no clue what their nature is. You can get a pretty good idea of it based on your favourite foods, though."

"I only eat apples," Kyle said automatically.

"That's fine. Apples are sweet, so you're probably one of the natures that helps with movement and speed," Roo said.

"I'd believe that," Kyle said idly. His speed was really the only thing going for him in a fight, if his scuffle with Overlord was any indication. He was still impressed he managed to get out of there the way he did.

"That's actually really lucky!" Roo continued. "You're the kind of Pokémon that can make use of being quick-footed. A sweeper, y'know? Timid or jolly wouldn't be the best, but if you're hasty or naïve—"

"Roo?" Kyle said.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Please shut up." Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. Sorry."

Kyle let out a breath. Admittedly, Roo blabbering on in his competitive battling jargon was hardly the worst he'd had to endure. But he'd been called naïve a few times throughout his life, and it was never meant to be a compliment. The last thing he needed was to make it a label.

"It's all right." Kyle turned back to his dirt-covered shelves. They were probably clean enough. It wasn't like anybody actually complained that his place was a mess. "I appreciate what you've been doing for Blue. You're a cool kid."

"…Cool enough to be part of the team?" Roo said.

Kyle blinked and glanced over his shoulder. "Part of the… You want to be a Shade?"

Roo shrugged again. "Well, I mean… Yeah!"

Well. It had certainly been a long time since anyone had come to him looking for a job. Stella had joked a while ago about asking Roo to join, but…

"If you want to be part of the Shades, you've got to tell me what you can offer us." Kyle turned around and crossed his arms. "And before you say anything, we don't need a competitive battling division."

Roo laughed. "No, no, I wasn't going to say that. I was thinking more like, uh… security, or something? Like, making sure nobody uninvited gets in here."

"You mean like you?" Kyle said dryly. "We don't usually have problems like that."

Sure, there had been an obsessive "fan" who broke in at least once or twice, but nothing major enough for Kyle to ever consider more security than he already had.

"Well, then, maybe part of it could be watching Blue and Emmy? I know they can take care of themselves, mostly, but, uh, you know, I'm here a lot anyway, and…" Roo grinned.

"You just want to have free reign over the front yard," Kyle said.

"It's a _really good_ training ground, man," Roo said. He clasped his claws together. "Please?"

Kyle heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess you're probably strong enough to be a security guard, even if Blue knocked you out in one hit," he muttered.

"Hey, that kid is like, genetically engineered to be super strong," Roo said. "And I'm a grass type! Did you really expect me to win? 'Cause I didn't."

Kyle bit his cheek. But if he was going to have security, shouldn't that position be manned by someone who didn't have such glaring weaknesses? Or was Blue really that much stronger that he put tournament champions to shame?

"Let me talk to the other Shades first," Kyle said. "I'll let you know my answer tomorrow."

Roo nodded quickly. "Right. Okay. Thank you. For even considering it, I mean. That's really— Thanks!"

Kyle waved a hand. "No problem. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to take out the recycling."

* * *

"Dad never took time off from work on our birthdays," Blue said. It was the first time he'd mentioned his father in a while. His gaze was fixed ahead of him, at the front lawn, where Emmy and Roo had somehow gotten into yet another scuffle that nobody seemed to want to mediate. Really, all the other party guests were making a point of it to ignore them, including Kyle and Blue.

Kyle glanced at Blue, then shrugged. "Well, I promise I always will. It's nice to have a break every now and then, anyway."

Blue's fingers clasped around the small sphere in his hands. It was like a large marble with several shades of deep purple swirling around inside it – a life orb. Kyle had never seen one before, but apparently they were decently rare items that had something to do with competitive battling. Roo had given it to him as a birthday present, just like he had with Chikoro a couple weeks ago. Kyle hadn't seen Blue put it down all day.

"I don't think Dad could imagine a world without his work," Blue said.

Kyle scoffed. "That's Kevin for you. He sets his mind on something and nothing else matters anymore. When he was twelve, he got obsessed with this idea of going on an adventure, left home to live on the streets, and then got himself stuffed in a box for ten years. And when he got out, did he even _think_ of how worried Mom was? I mean, first Dad and then him—"

"Why don't you like your brother?" Blue asked. His voice was calm and cool, like the one he'd used to confront the lords.

"Um," Kyle blinked. "I think it's more a question of why he doesn't like _me_. He'd spend all day finding excuses to attack me… Well, in this world, anyway." He raised an eyebrow.

Blue frowned. "All I know is that you considered Dad to be your best friend, even though you weren't supposed to have any. And Dad brought you back first."

Kyle crossed his arms. "I don't think that means as much as you think it does. From what I remember of our interview, he was probably trying to figure out if his attempts at necromancy worked properly. I was a test to make sure Vera didn't come back wrong."

Blue cringed. "That's pessimistic."

"Well, maybe you do have a point," Kyle said, although he wasn't really convinced. "Other than shoving me into a jail cell and denying me my freedom, he was kind of nice."

Blue rolled his shoulders. "I wish he could see this world. Maybe if he saw that he didn't have to work for Lord Shade to be happy, he'd be more like you."

"Oh man." Kyle laughed. "I know I'm considered a role model for kids, but for my own brother?"

"You don't have to be older to be a role model." Blue twisted the life orb in his hands. "You just have to have qualities that other people admire."

"He does admire kindness," Kyle mused, thinking back to the conversation he'd heard Vera and Overlord share while he was cooped up inside a wooden cabinet. "But I'm not that kind."

"Sure you are," Blue said.

"Kevin, Kari, and Chikoro will tell you otherwise," Kyle said.

"But Stella, Ero, Mom, Emmy, and Roo would agree with me," Blue said, counting on his fingers. "Six beats four. I'm right."

"At least you're democratic about it," Kyle said flatly.

"That's such a better way of picking a leader." Blue's eyes narrowed in determination. "If I'm ever in charge of anything, I want to be elected."

"Go for it!" Kyle grinned. "Be the first Pokémon president. I'd love to see that happen."

Blue smiled sheepishly. "I keep forgetting humans run the world here. But yeah, maybe I will."

"If you actually do it, Stella and I will be your campaign managers, okay?" Kyle said, returning the smile.

"I think I'm actually going to stay away from stuff like that," Blue said. "But thanks for the offer, Uncle Kyle. Now, uh, maybe we should go and deal with that…?"

He gestured to Roo and Emmy, who had escalated their argument into a full-fledged battle, complete with Seed Bombs and Flamethrowers flying in every direction. Kyle sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, all right. It'd be nice if Roo's parents could show up and knock some sense into him, though," Kyle mumbled.

"Isn't Roo an adult for his species, though?" Blue asked.

Kyle shrugged, trudging forward. "If he is, he's the most immature one to ever walk the planet. And he wants to be a security guard…"

"Huh?" Blue said.

"It's nothing, I'll tell you later," Kyle replied. He stopped a few feet away from the catastrophic battle in front of him and held his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Hey, you two, knock it off!"

They answered him with a few stray flames and some Seed Bomb shrapnel. He groaned. "What is _with_ those two? They can't be near each other for two seconds without something going horribly wrong."

Blue grit his teeth. "Emmy's never really liked boys who think they're stronger than her."

"Is that really the only thing?" Kyle muttered. He took a deep breath. "Oh well. Wish me luck, I'm going in."

He never had the chance.

At that moment, a lot of things happened. Kyle heard the sound barrier explode beside his left ear in one gigantic ripple of severed air molecules. He stumbled to the side, turning his head, only to be blinded by bright green light. Before he could properly react, he felt himself being knocked over with a swift whack to the chest, which winded him enough to make him cough.

He inhaled sharply, opened his eyes as wide as he could manage, and looked up. Kevin frowned down at him, his eyes cold and his cloak perfectly positioned on his shoulders.

"Kari, get my wife and the children. The rest of you, deal with any resistance. I'll make this quick." The overlord stared. "Hello, Kyle. How's the afterlife?"


	16. Chapter 16

_AN: I remember this chapter took me ages! I think it still holds the record for the longest continuous scene I've written, too. Hope you enjoy, because it's a doozy._

* * *

Kyle gaped. Overlord glowered.

"I believe the deal was that you could go if you made it look like you'd actually managed to best me in a fight." The king's eyes were icy. "That did _not_ mean I gave you permission to kidnap the rest of my fam—"

Blue's fist collided with Overlord's head, knocking him to the ground. Blue's arms shook, his breathing heavy. "Leave us alone!"

Overlord's hand flew to his temple as he winced. "Blue, what—"

"We weren't kidnapped, we left because we wanted to! And we're not going back! I'll fight you if I have to!" Blue's right hand was curled around the life orb, radiating with the purple energy inside it. His left was raised, ready for another strike. At that moment, he looked just as terrifying as his father.

Overlord scowled. "I see your uncle's ghost has gotten to you—"

"Oh for god's sake, I'm not frickin' dead!" Kyle shouted. "Now get the hell off my lawn!"

He stood up, clutching his chest. For the first time, he noticed the small army behind Overlord, mostly big rock and steel types, like Aggron and Rhydon, and even a couple of Rhyperior. He recognized a few faces – the guards, Dream-Kari included. So Overlord had brought his underlings with him to give him the advantage, huh? Well, if he wanted a war, he was totally going to get one.

"Stell, get over here and freeze some of these guys, would you? Ero, burn them! And Roo, if you want to be a security guard, here's your first job right now!" He backed away from Overlord, who was steadily getting up, his eyes fixed on his son.

"It's useless to try and fight back. You're all just regular Pokémon." Overlord's hand still clutched at his temple. He eyed Kyle steadily.

"Since when have I been a regular Pokémon?" Kyle's eyes were blazing. "Look, you come waltzing over here asking for a fight, I'm going to give you one, no matter how much I hate battling!"

He hadn't been this riled up since Chuno's attempt on his life, but now was as good a time as any to get angry. He glanced around before spotting his brother and company a few yards away, standing in shock. "Hey, Kev, would you mind helping?"

Kevin's jaw dropped. "I… Is that…?"

"Is it?" Kari said, her eyebrows sky high.

Chikoro blinked.

Kyle growled and turned to Blue. "Whatever! Blue, can you—"

"I've got this." Blue's eyes narrowed. "Keep Mom safe for me."

Kyle nodded. "Right."

Normally he'd have a few more reservations about leaving a kid with a sociopath like Overlord, but he'd seen Blue's power. He would definitely give Overlord a difficult time, especially if Overlord was hesitant at all about fighting him. Kyle sped past the army of goons, tailing Dream-Kari, who had gone after Vera first. Vera just so happened to be with Little, and Kyle wasn't going to let either of them get hurt.

He outpaced Dream-Kari easily, skidding to come to a stop between her and Vera. He glared as his fists caught fire. "Kari, stop this."

Dream-Kari's breath caught in her throat. "I can't. You know I can't."

His shoulders dropped slightly. He wasn't expecting her to be so remorseful. "Yes you can. You don't have to listen to him."

Dream-Kari shook her head. "No! I already disobeyed orders once by listening to the prince over the king. I can't let that happen again!"

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, stalling. Dream-Kari seemed to be getting very emotional very quickly, which was good news for him, even if it was making him feel the slightest bit guilty. He glanced behind him and mouthed the word _run_ to Vera, who was currently wide-eyed and stiff as a statue, holding Little close to her chest.

"I let you escape! I helped Blue help you! It's a miracle the lord let me live!" Her voice warbled. "If you just surrender, everything will be fine and we won't have to hurt you!"

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Like hell everything will be fine! Blue and Emmy would go back to a life full of parental neglect and _murder_ , and be forced to go through with whatever it is that Lord Shade has planned for them. And who knows what'll happen to Vera! Kari, there is no way your heart's really in this fight, so please, just stop!"

She grimaced. "You're really something else, aren't you? But I'm sorry. I can't. Just give in!"

Kyle swallowed something in his throat. He hated the idea of fighting Kari. He'd never even scratched her, even when they were kids, despite her occasionally using Tackle on him (or more recently, Earthquake). But now, was there even a choice? If he wasn't the one fighting her now, then somebody else would be, and he didn't know if he could stand that, either. He didn't know if anyone else would hold back.

"All right, fine." Kyle rolled up his sleeves. "Let's fight. If I win, you have to stop following Overlord's orders, agreed?"

She nodded. "But if I win, the queen comes with me."

Kyle glanced at Vera. "If you're not going to run for it, at least let Little."

Vera's eyes widened and her grip loosened. Little pried himself out of her arms, keeping an uneasy eye on Dream-Kari. She stared back at him.

"He's the nephew who looks like you, isn't he?" she said.

Kyle blinked. "Um—"

Kari drove her foot into the ground, causing a shockwave to ripple through the earth and knock everyone else over. Kyle scrambled to get up, cursing. He'd forgotten that Lord Shade's minions liked using dirty tricks. Distraction was just one of them. But if that was how she was going to play…

Earthquake. That was the biggest problem. He was weak to it, he could tell. His legs were still shaky from the hit. But how was he supposed to avoid a move that covered the entire field? Had Kevin ever said anything about that? He tried his best to remember, and he managed to recall Kevin saying that the move couldn't hit anyone if they were flying or floating.

So, step one? Get off the ground. Okay. He could do that. He could—

Kari stomped again for a second Earthquake, and Kyle jumped. He quickly found out that earthquakes lasted for more than a second, however, and once he landed the rumbling earth disoriented him once again. Damn. Even with Aerial Ace, he wouldn't be able to stay in the air for that long. There had to be another way.

"Dad, up here!" Little said. Kyle looked up. A few feet away in a nearby tree, Little and Vera had somehow managed to get away from the second attack. They were perched on a decently sized branch about ten feet off the ground. Kyle darted over, climbing the tree as fast as he could manage. It felt oddly nostalgic, like he was a little kid again, running away from Kevin's Ember attack. Only this time it was a alternate universe version of his ex shaking the entire ground.

He was lucky he was thin, or he'd doubt the tree's ability to support his weight, too. He felt the branch bend slightly under them and bit his tongue. It would hold. It had to.

"You've gotten yourself into a pretty precarious position, there." Kari sighed. "And you haven't even fought back yet!"

Little spat an Ember at her. "Go away!"

The light flames barely fazed her. "I'm sorry. Really."

Kyle was beginning to have difficulty believing her.

A few loose leaves detached from the tree on Kari's back and shot towards the branch they were balanced on with surprising precision. They made a deep gash in the bark, and before Kyle realized what was happening, the gash turned into a split and the three of them came tumbling down. The wind was almost knocked out of him again, but Kyle caught his breath quickly and rose to his feet.

"I'm surprised you actually took on the king by yourself. Your battling skills need a lot of work." Kari raised her eyebrows.

"You still haven't taken me out," Kyle remarked.

"I could have if I wanted to." Her eyes narrowed.

"Uh huh," Kyle gritted his teeth. "I don't get it. You guys are supposed to these awesome battlers, right? But instead you waste time fooling around. Even _I_ know that's not a good strategy."

Dream-Kari's left eye twitched. "I am _very_ strong."

"Then prove it," Kyle growled.

Vera made a pained noise. "Oh, no, why would you use Taunt _now_ , of all times?"

"I…" Kyle blinked. "What?"

Dream-Kari scoffed. "You asked for it!"

The earth rattled again, and Kyle was really starting to feel fatigued. Earthquake wasn't exactly a move that caused pain, like a slash or a bite or high-pressure water, but it shook him up so badly that he could really use a nap to sleep it off. Passing out would definitely be the worst idea ever right now, though… Even though it would feel pretty nice…

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to bring his brain back into things, when he felt another ripple through the ground. This one was less powerful, though, like… it wasn't aimed at him? But Kari had great aim. He opened one of his eyes and, doing his best to keep it open, he looked up.

Kari was there, glaring at Kari. Oh… Oh! His eyes shot open.

"Kyle, you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do after we deal with this. Not that that's anything new." Kari glared at her double with her one good eye.

"Of course." Kyle clenched his fists. "I… yeah!"

"You are so out of it right now." Kari shook her head. Kyle could have sworn he saw her smirk for a second. "Listen, get up on my back, and the tremors won't hurt you."

Dream-Kari growled. "It doesn't work like that."

"Sure it does, Kevin does it all the time." Kari's stance tensed. "Kyle, come on! Little and Vera, you too!"

Finally regaining most of his senses, Kyle ran over to Kari (his Kari) and clambered up onto her back. He gripped her tree trunk for support. Little and Vera followed suit, and the three of them were squished together again. Hopefully Kari was a little more durable than a tree branch.

"Please don't squeeze my tree. Just use the rocks or something." Kari took a deep breath. "Good. Now hang on."

Kari wasn't quite right. While he wasn't exactly affected by her attack, he could still feel the vibrations run through him like a really loud bass at an outdoor concert. He wondered if an Earthquake was like a tornado, and the center of the blast was calmer than the outside, but that didn't make much logical sense. Then again, he was pretty sure that if "Earthquake" was actually causing a real earthquake every time it was used, the whole world would have been levelled by now.

The other Kari grimaced. "What is this?"

"I should be asking the same thing," Kari said through another Earthquake. "Who do you think you are? Attacking Kyle like that—"

A flurry of leaves shot at Kari's face, and Dream-Kari glared. "Oh, so now you play the 'I-care-about-him' card? From what he's told me, you've been nothing but awful to him since he made _one_ mistake!"

Kari's eyes widened. "Oh yeah? And did he tell you how big of a mistake that was? Because it wasn't exactly trivial!"

Kyle took a breath. "Um—"

"You stay out of this," Real-Kari said darkly.

Sending more leaves their way, Dream-Kari said, "You think you're so tough with that scar of yours, huh? Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, honey, but you're nowhere near my level!"

Kari growled. "Oh, that is _it_ —"

A beam of ice shot from behind them, hitting Dream-Kari in the gap between her head and her shell. She shuddered, sending them all a murderous look, before her knees gave out and she collapsed. Kari blinked. Little whistled.

"Nice killsteal," Little said.

"Little," Vera whispered harshly.

Kyle turned his head around.

Stella stood, her tail swishing around madly. Her lower jaw trembled as she looked meekly at her boss. "I, um, I hit the right one, right?"

Kyle sighed in relief. "Yeah, you did. But Stell, didn't I tell you to—"

"I'm weak to rock and steel!" she squeaked. "So I— I had to— I'm just glad you're okay!"

"I had things under control," Kari said rather stiffly.

"I… I don't doubt that." Stella refused to meet Kari's eyes.

Lovely, more tension. Kari and Stella didn't speak to each other very often, but when they did, it was always awkward. Kyle assumed that it was his fault, since… Well.

"Stell." Kyle gave her a meaningful look. "Thank you for saving us. Now, can you do me a favour and get the two of them somewhere safe?"

Stella glanced at Little and Vera, then back to him. "But… Boss, you're in worse shape than they are."

"Maybe, but this is kind of my fight. I need to make sure Emmy and Blue aren't hurt—"

He took a shaky step and had to stop. He muttered a curse at the ground.

"Oh, look, he's doing the noble warrior thing, how cute," Kari said dryly.

"Boss, you need to recover. You look like you're about to faint," Stella said.

"So I'll eat something," Kyle said.

"He's not changing his mind, you know." Kari raised an eyebrow at Stella.

Stella glared at Kari. "Well, unless he's got a pair of crutches, he isn't going to get very far!"

"Um… He could probably use the recovery move that Blue likes," Vera said quietly.

The two other women stared at her incredulously. She cleared her throat.

"Humans call it 'Slack Off', but it's more like… You clear your mind, for a moment, and you take a deep breath…" She demonstrated. After a few seconds, her lips turned up into a smile. "And then you feel a lot better."

"I really don't think yoga moves are going to help him," Kari said.

"It's a legitimate technique." Vera's smile turned back into a frown.

Sensing that the tension might get even worse if he didn't rescue Vera (again), Kyle said, "She's right. I saw— Well, I almost saw Blue use it."

"Almost?" Stella asked.

"He was blocked from recovering or something." Kyle's eyebrows creased. "I don't really remember what that was all about. But I'm going to try it."

He just needed to clear his mind and breathe. All right, he could do that! He had done it, sometimes, when he'd shown up in the other world and needed some time away from thinking. Easy. He closed his eyes and told himself to relax, and then breathe.

And… damn it, now he was thinking about breathing, which meant he had to consciously breathe for a minute before his body would start doing it automatically again—

But when he opened his eyes, he did feel a little better.

"I don't think I'm very good at it, but it kind of worked, maybe," Kyle said. His legs weren't quite as shaky, anyway.

"Well, it'll have to do." Kari glanced behind her, where the army of rock types stood, taking up most of the field and obscuring their sight from the rest of their allies. Kyle could at least see Roo darting around and throwing Seed Bombs, though, so that was something.

"All right." Kyle took another deep breath. "Vera, you take Little—"

"I don't know where you got the impression that I can't fight." She crossed her arms.

" _Uh_?" Kyle whirled around. "You sure didn't fight Kari at all. And who could barely stand while Blue and Emmy took on two insanely powerful—"

"That's because they kept using that psychic move on me! Do you know how many of those I had to endure?" Vera shouted. "Besides, who couldn't even help Blue pick up a table to throw at the window?"

"That was completely different!" Kyle's face went pale.

"Listen!" she said. She quickly brought her hand to her chest. "In case you didn't know, being a lower class citizen of Red Mountain meant I regularly had to defend myself—whether it was from other species or disgusting people who thought they could get me to do what they wanted. And right now, Blue and Emmy's father is one of those disgusting people!"

She stared at him, hard. He stared back harder. He didn't— He wasn't— He was just trying to keep everyone safe. He had learned when he met Kari not to question people when they said they could beat him up, but Vera had acted so shy and reserved. He was really having trouble believing that she could let that go and fight right now. Vera was somebody who curled up inside herself, not somebody who could curl her fingers into a fist.

"Dad, it's okay. I can go to Catchy's place by myself." Little tugged at Kyle's leg.

Kyle blinked. He glanced down at Little. "Catchy? Oh… your friend, right. Um…" He glanced up at Vera, then at Kari, then back down. "How far away is that?"

"It's at the beach," Little said.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "The beach is that way." He flicked a thumb behind him, past the brawl in the background.

"I'll go around." Little clenched his tiny fingers. "I won't get caught, I promise."

"That sounds like a jinx if I ever heard one, but I guess that's our only choice." Kyle sighed.

"Then it's settled." Vera stretched her arms out. "Be careful, Little."

"Yeah, sure." Little saluted. "See you later!"

He bounded off into the trees, hopefully obscured enough from the attacking forces. None of them seemed to notice or care to go after him, thankfully. Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Stella.

"All right. Stell, how strong are those guys?" Kyle asked.

She cringed. "Maybe on Roo's level? I don't know. I'm not that good at judging things like that."

Kari shook her head. "Okay, they're going to be tough. We had that figured out already. Now are we going to waste time standing here, or are we going to go help everyone?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She stomped off toward the battle with a determined look on her face, but Kyle had known her for long enough to tell that there was anxiety underneath her confidence. Had she gotten more hurt than she'd let on? Or was it something else?

Kyle glanced over his shoulder at Dream-Kari's unconscious form. He'd explain everything after the battle. He owed her that.

He followed Kari, Stella and Vera at his heels. Vera looked like she was going through some deep breathing exercises, maybe another variation on Blue's healing move. Stella, on the other hand, looked like she was going to be sick.

"Ice Beam is my only attack," she muttered, keeping close to him. "Unless you want me to use Icy Wind, but that's pretty much just a weaker version."

"Don't worry about it. The two of us should probably keep our distance, anyway, so if all you have is a ranged attack, it's okay," Kyle said.

"Does it bother you that Kari and Vera are stronger than you?" Stella bit her lip.

Kyle shook his head. "No."

"Okay." Her eyes darted away. "I just thought, maybe, because you were so against Vera—"

"Let's be honest, did you think she looked like somebody who could fight?" Kyle puffed out his cheek.

"Not until now," Stella admitted. "But now, she looks a little scary."

"Exactly. And as for Kari, I've known that she's stronger than me since I was twelve." He huffed. "My brother's not the only one who's attacked me for no reason."

"You were going to burn down the entire lab without any kind of plan. I had to stop you," Kari called from up ahead.

"So instead of saying 'Hey, maybe don't do that', she rammed into me at full speed," Kyle muttered. He crossed his arms.

" _Anyway_ ," said Vera.

Right. An army was in front of his house.

He could see Roo bouncing over his opponents' heads and throwing Seed Bombs from above, then launching himself into some kind of uppercut upon landing. He was doing well, but the amount of opponents seemed to be giving him quite the challenge. They all aimed their attacks towards him, outright ignoring Chikoro and Emmy. Kyle couldn't see Ero, but he hoped he wasn't knocked out. A couple of Rhydon had ganged up on Kevin, preventing him from joining the main fight.

In other words, Kyle hoped that they were enough reinforcements.

"I think we should help Kevin," Kyle said to Stella.

"Good idea. Watch out for stray Earthquakes." Kari gritted her teeth.

"Right." Kyle nodded.

He and Stella ran until they were about two feet away from Kevin's battle. Stella shot an Ice Beam at one of the Rhydon's backs, making him shudder. He whipped his head around, eyes blazing. Kyle noted with a start that they were the same colour as Kari's.

"Back for more, girlie?" He drew up some large pointed rocks from seemingly nowhere. Kyle recognized the move – Stone Edge, Roo's finisher from the tournament.

Stella squeaked and stepped back. Kyle's breath hitched. He was ready to dodge at a moment's notice, but he wasn't so sure about Stella.

"Hey! What are you doing, turning your back on me?" Kevin growled, while he blocked an onslaught of boulders the other Rhydon was chucking at him. Was that supposed to be Taunt, too?

The Rhydon ignored him and sent the stones at Stella. Kyle yanked her out of the way to avoid most of the attack, but one of the stones grazed one of her back legs and she winced in pain. She glared at her attacker and fired another Ice Beam at him, and like before, it noticeably hurt him.

Kyle squinted. "I thought you said you had a disadvantage?"

"I do…" Stella said, although she looked unsure.

"Rhydon are part ground type! And they have bad special defense!" Kevin yelled.

"Oh!" Stella said, her eyes wide. "So I'm actually on equal footing?"

"Guess so." Kyle let go of Stella and adjusted his stance. "And if they've got bad special defense…"

Kyle spat some flames at the Rhydon, but he shrugged them off easily. Behind him, Kevin raged incoherently.

"Seriously, Kyle?! They resist fire!"

Well, sorry for not knowing that. Kyle grimaced. He was in no shape to get in there and start punching people. And as far as fighting type special moves went, he wasn't sure if any even existed, so he was pretty sure he didn't know any. Great. This brawl made him feel more useless by the second.

"This is easy!" One of the Rhydon laughed.

"When the king said we'd be fighting some tough opponents, he must not have realized they were all casuals," another said, preparing for a Stone Edge.

A glob of green light smacked him in the side of the head. "Yo, don't go bashing casuals! Not all of us have time to train twenty-four seven!"

Chikoro popped out of nowhere, looking quite worse for wear. He clenched his jaw and glanced at Kyle. "Let's switch, Mr. Shade. There are some Aggron over there who could stand to get a little toastier."

Kyle nodded blankly. "Uh… okay!" He shot a meaningful look at Stella before heading to the other half of the fight. He wasn't sure if he should have been annoyed that Chikoro of all people was ordering him around, but he figured that there were more pressing matters at the moment.

He sent some flames at the first Aggron he saw, which surprisingly took him out. The large steel type roared and collapsed to the ground, hitting it with enough force to cause something similar to an Earthquake. Kyle shuddered. He saw Roo grin at him from a few feet away, still bouncing around like a giant spring.

"Hey, nice work! Keep it up!" Roo jumped onto an Aggron and punched her in the face.

Right. Okay. Keep Flamethrowering Aggron. He glanced around wildly.

Kari was shooting leaves at a Rhyperior. Roo was all over the place. Vera was in the middle of what looked like Close Combat with an Aggron, with Emmy hanging tightly on her shoulder. All right, then.

Kyle dashed to them and spat some more flames the Aggron's way. The Aggron roared, looking murderously at Kyle with creepy blue eyes that were almost the same colour as Lord Shade's. Kyle made his way to Vera gesturing to Emmy.

"I can take her, if you want," he said.

Emmy pouted. "I can fight too!"

"You're six years old and there's about twelve guys in the peak of their health surrounding us," Kyle said. "Besides, you're already piggybacking."

"Please take her," Vera said hurriedly before spewing more flames at the Aggron.

Ignoring Emmy's cry of protest, Kyle scooped her up and placed her on his own shoulder. She felt heavier than when he had carried her back in the castle. He grimaced. Why was his zombie body in better shape than his real one? He probably should do something about that. Maybe Stella had tips for getting in shape that didn't involve battling people or changing his diet. ( _Ha_.)

Emmy settled on his shoulder, her fingers clasped on his sweater. "At least let me help you when you attack," she said.

"What do you mean?" Kyle backed away to avoid the Aggron's heavy Iron Tail.

"Double Flamethrower!" Emmy said. "It might be as powerful as Mom's if we work together."

"Eheh," Kyle muttered. "I'd rather get you somewhere safe, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Right, then on three, we aim for this guy!" Emmy pointed enthusiastically at the Aggron in front of them.

Kyle nodded. "Right."

"Mom, watch out, okay? One, two, three!" Emmy shouted.

Their combined Flamethrower certainly looked stronger, Kyle thought. It was pretty big, at least. It engulfed the Aggron in a spiral of fire, trapping and distracting him long enough for Vera to deal the final blow and knock him out. All right, then! Kyle high fived Emmy, who grinned giddily.

"It worked! Awesome!" she squealed.

"Well, I weakened him first," Vera said with a weary smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Emmy waved her hand. She pat Kyle on the back. "Come on, let's attack all the other guys! I bet we can take down more than that stupid mushroom head!"

Kyle laughed. "You mean Roo? Well, sure, if it keeps you motivated."

"Let's go!" Emmy pointed again, this time at the Aggron Roo had punched earlier.

All in all, for a bunch of "casuals", as the Rhydon had so eloquently put it, Kyle thought that his team was doing really well. They had Roo, of course, who was representing his tournament championship title well. Kari and Vera were also surprisingly good at defending themselves from the onslaught of the army's attacks, but maybe it all boiled down to type advantages. Kyle had never really thought that they were super-important, but hey, that wouldn't be the first mistake he made, battling-wise. He had never been good at keeping the type chart straight in his head.

Stella, Chikoro, and Kevin had managed to down both of the Rhydon they were facing together, and by some miracle, they now outnumbered the conscious members of Overlord's army. Everyone was badly hurt, sure, but they were winning. And winning, Kyle decided, felt very, very good.

There was just one thing nagging Kyle's mind.

"We should help Blue." His hand reached up to make sure Emmy was still secure on his shoulder.

"Do you think we can?" she said, her tone unnaturally grim for such a young girl.

Kyle frowned. "Why not?"

"Have you looked in his direction since we started fighting?" Emmy said.

Kyle blinked and turned. What he saw was… unsettling. He swallowed. There was a rather defined streak of charred bark carving its way through the wilderness, curling and circling through most of the forest and even a little into the outskirts of town. The ground was burnt and upheaved in front of Headquarters from various fire and rock type attacks, but it was nowhere near as destructive-looking.

"You saw my brother battle Roo, but that was just one attack," Emmy said. "And against Lord Shade, we were inside a tiny room. When he gets the chance to battle in the trees…"

"Crap," Kyle muttered.

"He'll beat Dad, though." Emmy's grip tightened. "He's really good."

"I don't want to take any chances," Kyle said. "Isn't there something we can do?"

"When Lord Shade wanted to stop a fight, he'd use that scary move that puts you to sleep." Emmy frowned.

Kyle gritted his teeth. "I don't think anyone here has a move like tha— Oh, wait, Roo has— Spore, right?"

"Well, if you want _him_ to save the day," Emmy grumbled.

"Hey, this is no time to be picky!" Kyle said.

But Roo was busy with the remaining Rhyperior and Rhydon. Even with Kari's help (from the looks of it, Chikoro had fainted), he couldn't afford to leave the fight and go chasing after Blue and Overlord. They had to wait at least until the army was down, but then everyone would be exhausted. Kyle certainly was.

"If we want to go help, it'll just be us," Emmy said, reading his mind. For the first time since Kyle had known her, her confidence seemed to have vanished. "We— We make a good team, but…"

"But your dad goes easy on people if you get him upset." Kyle frowned. He glared down the burnt trees. "I got through to him before. Maybe I can do it again."

"Are you crazy? I don't know what you said to him before, but he's really mad at you!" Emmy's fingers laced themselves tightly into his neck fur.

Kyle scoffed. "As if he's ever _not_ mad at me. I've got to try. If I can't fight, I might as well talk."

"Are you sure?" Emmy said.

"It's what I do for a living." Kyle nodded. And before he could stick around and drag out his decision any longer, he set out towards the streak of charred forest.

The locals were completely frazzled. All of the birds had flown away, but large packs of Raticate and Rattata were frantically skittering across the grass, screeching things about their ruined homes and food sources. Kyle kept a grim frown as he tried to make his way through the chaos. He'd be sure to give them a formal apology when this was all over. Even if he hadn't caused the destruction personally, it was still his fault that Overlord had even shown up to begin with.

Well, yeah, Overlord showed up because of him, but only because Kyle had brought Vera and the kids back with him (which was definitely the right thing for Kyle to do in the situation). All the consequences were a result of Overlord being a whiny little baby about it.

"Are they okay?" Emmy whispered, staring at a family of Mankey having a loud argument about why they should have moved last fall.

"They're fine," Kyle said. He gritted his teeth. "It sounds worse than it actually is with a lot of Pokémon. Don't mind the screeching."

"Why can't I understand them?" Emmy mumbled, pouting into his shoulder.

Kyle glanced at her. "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe we can ask your dad about it."

Emmy didn't seem too thrilled about that idea. Kyle gave her a reassuring pat on the back and made his way deeper into the woods, finally out of the way of the turmoil. As the sounds of the locals died away, he was met with an eerie quiet that was only interrupted by the occasional crackling of burning wood.

"I never liked the forest," Emmy whispered, hugging him closely. "It's too dark, and somebody could jump out at you at any second."

"The dark isn't that scary, especially when you've got fire on you," Kyle said. He attempted to comfort her by curling his tail out in front of them so it would light the way forward better.

"Yeah, but you have a tail," Emmy muttered. He laughed lightly.

In truth, he was starting to feel a little scared, too. Not because of the shadows cast from the trees, but because of the obvious carnage to their surroundings. He could see every heated footstep burnt into the grass and the smouldering craters caused by narrowly avoided Flamethrowers, and he knew that he wouldn't fare well if he was hit by a stray move, regardless of what type he was.

But he _had_ battled Overlord and come out of it with barely a scratch. Whatever was going on in Not-Kevin's head, Kyle didn't know, but Overlord wouldn't hurt him. Maybe.

"Do you hear them?" he asked Emmy after a couple of minutes of aimless wandering through the trees.

"No, but…" She pointed at one of the nearby blackened footsteps. "That one looks fresh."

He glanced down and nodded, his eyes following the trail of dim sparks to the base of a tree. From the looks of it, one of them had climbed it and retreated by leaping from the branches. All right, then.

"Hold on," he said to Emmy. He shook out his arms and scaled the tree, ignoring his protesting muscles and the pain that followed. He reached a moderately high branch and, after pressuring it with his foot to make sure it wasn't too damaged to support him, crouched onto it. He surveyed the area from his new height, narrowing his eyes.

"That way," Emmy said. Kyle followed her gaze.

There was a flicker of light visible through the trees, just brief enough for Kyle to see before it disappeared. Kyle groaned. That was either Overlord or Blue's tail, he was certain.

"Okay." Kyle dropped down from the tree. "Time to be a complete idiot."

Leaping through the branches would have gotten Kyle and Emmy to the battle scene quicker, he knew, but his stamina was running dangerously low and he wasn't in the right condition for expending that kind of energy. He wasn't exactly in good condition for sprinting, either, but hey. He was fast.

Maybe he could take up running, actually. That didn't sound half bad.

Kyle skittered to a stop, backing away just in time to dodge an Aerial Ace. Overlord didn't seem to notice him as he recovered from his downward strike, glaring in the other direction at Blue, who was pressed against a tree, about to launch himself off of it. Blue caught Kyle's eye, and the boy's breath hitched.

Overlord noticed. He whipped around, and if Kyle hadn't yelped and ducked, he'd have probably been knocked out by a punch to the head for a second time. Eyes widening, Overlord quickly backed up and positioned himself so that he could see both Blue and Kyle, raising his fists defensively.

"Kyle." Overlord's breath was reasonably heavy. His cloak, now torn into a ragged cloth about half its previous size, curled around him. "And Emera."

Emmy growled. Kyle reached up and patted her on the back.

"Mmhmm. Listen, your army's finished," Kyle said, once again intentionally using his sharper voice.

Overlord raised his eyebrows. "I'm not falling for your lies this time."

Blue slid down the tree, his fists on fire. His fingers left black claw marks in the bark. "Oh, just shut up already. I believe him. That army's never seen a real fight and you know it."

A twinge of something flickered over Overlord's face. "You could teach them a thing or two, I'm sure."

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Blue scoffed. He spat out an ember. "At the cost of my freedom, I can teach a bunch of mindless drones how to destroy things better! How can I refuse?"

"Blue—"

"How many times do I have to say it? That's not my life anymore!" Blue inhaled deeply. "And it's not Emmy's or Mom's either. We weren't kidnapped, we escaped."

Emmy nodded fervently. "We like it better here."

"If you have even an ounce of good in you, you'd realize they're better off here." Kyle stared Overlord down. "Here, they don't have to hurt anybody."

Overlord's eyes flashed maliciously. "Of course that's what you'd think. They're better off with you because you're the good one, and I'm not. That's _always_ what you think."

Kyle frowned. "Well, yeah. I think it's pretty clear who the good one is here."

"It's not that simple, Kyle!" Overlord snarled. He sent a sharp glance to Blue. "Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe, I have to be like this to survive? You'd always run your mouth about how horrible Lord Shade was and how much you valued your emotions and I had to shut you up and convince them you'd change, because that was the only way to keep them from killing you on the spot! And then you ruined _that_ , and they made me—"

Overlord's hands shook. He stared wildly at Kyle, shaking his head. "I'm not stupid, Ky. I know I messed up and got us in a bad situation. But I can't just turn around and put it behind me. I can't just leave Lord Shade and start living a normal life. He won't let that happen. And that's why I can't let _them_ …"

He turned to Blue. "If you stay here, you'll die."

Blue stood firm. "Not without a fight, I won't."

"You can't win that fight," Overlord said. His tone was growing desperate. "Kyle didn't, and neither did your mother."

Blue stepped back. Overlord sighed and turned back to Kyle.

"If _you_ care about my family at all," he said shakily, "then you'd understand that they have to come with me. I'm the only one who can protect them."

Kyle stared at the overlord. This wasn't the person he'd seen at the castle, the one solely concerned with his own life. This was someone who'd been sheltering dark, dark thoughts inside with no one to express them to. He even seemed to understand the concept of giving a damn this time. And yet, something still didn't seem right. Kyle recognized the fear, the desperation in the other's voice. Overlord was absolutely terrified. Kyle felt his lips go thin.

"Kevin," he said slowly. Overlord stared. "I care about Blue and Emmy. I promise you that. But you are not the only one who can protect them. You're not thinking rationally – you're too scared of what Lord Shade or whoever might do to you to think beyond extremes. They're safe here. It's been two months and everything's been fine."

Overlord let out a bitter laugh. "The only reason it's been two months is so I could do _this_ ," he said, slicing at the air. A streak of vibrant green light stayed, burned into seemingly nothing. It radiated with the same energy that the various portals in Lord Shade's secret room had back in the castle. Kyle stared at it; it looked almost otherworldly. For all he knew, it actually was.

"I could have showed up right when you got yourselves here," Overlord muttered, narrowing his eyes at the light. He slashed at it again, and it disappeared. "But I wasn't— Lord Chronos is strict about what we can alter."

Kyle blinked.

"They're not safe. Not so long as Lord Shade is in charge. And he's been in charge for centuries." Overlord grimaced. "That's why if you'd just come back to the castle—"

"Hey!" Emmy blurted. "How about you stop pretending that Uncle Kyle and his friends can't help Blue fight Lord Shade? Maybe one person on their own can't win, but we made an awesome team back there, against the army!"

Blue nodded at Emmy. "We can form a resistance."

Overlord shook his head. "That's not enough—"

"Well, it'll have to be. We're not giving up." Kyle crossed his arms. "And neither should you."

Kyle wasn't quite sure what he meant by saying that, but he could tell that something had happened in the past two months to shake the overlord up. And if that something could actually make him into a better person…

Overlord gave him a long, searching stare. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he let out a tired sigh.

"You haven't changed at all," Overlord muttered. Then, without warning, he sliced at the air and stepped into the flash of green, and then he was gone.

Kyle let out a short breath. Emmy loosened her grip around his neck. Blue tottered over to lean on him, taking more deep breaths. They stayed like that for a minute until Blue stood up on his own again, his bright eyes narrowing in determination.

"Guess we have some things to take care of," he said darkly. His fingers were still clenched so tightly around his life orb that his knuckles had gone white.

Kyle raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Mm. I'm not sure how to go about taking care of them."

"I think I have an idea." Blue turned around, looking at Emmy, then Kyle.

"First thing's first, we need to see Cresselia."


	17. Chapter 17

"Cresselia?" Kyle asked. Out of all the time he'd spent in Overlord's castle, he'd never heard that name. Some nagging voice in the back of his mind thought it sounded familiar, though.

"She's the opposite of Lord Shade." Blue turned to make his way back to Headquarters. Kyle followed. "An ancient and powerful Pokémon. I think she might be able to help us."

"That's a great idea, Blue!" Emmy beamed. "If we warn her about the attack…"

Blue nodded. "We should definitely warn her. We… We probably should have warned her first thing after we escaped, but I guess I was too caught up in being free to think about stuff like that."

"Uh…" Kyle raised an eyebrow at Blue.

"Oh, sorry. You know how Lord Shade has been training people for a huge army?" Blue said.

"Vaguely?" Kyle said.

"Well, his goal is to gather enough forces to defeat Cresselia, and after that, I think he's planning something else. I think she's one of the only people in his way right now." Blue's eyes narrowed.

Kyle frowned. "So there's a legendary war going on, and you want to defect to the other

side? Wouldn't it be better to just stay out of it?"

"Maybe if Dad would _let us_ stay out of it," Emmy muttered.

"Fair enough." Kyle wiped his forehead. "I don't really want to get involved, but if Overlord's just going to pop into existence to try and take you back again, I'm not about to let him, even if it's exhausting."

Blue gave him an apologetic smile. "Thanks, Uncle Kyle. I promise to handle most of it myself."

"What? No, I'm still here. I'm going to help." He sighed. "So, Cresselia. Opposite of Lord Shade. Do you know where she is? Maybe what she looks like?" He tried to imagine what the opposite of such a creepy, dark figure would be. Something more angelic, maybe?

Blue and Emmy both shrugged, causing Kyle to sigh again.

"Okay… What about her abilities? Typing? Anything at all that makes her stand out from other legendary Pokémon? I mean, I assume she's legendary, since Lord Shade probably is…" Kyle frowned.

Blue's face scrunched up. "Um… Psychic?"

Emmy nodded. "Psychic."

"That narrows it down," Kyle said brazenly.

"All I really know is that Lord Shade doesn't like her," Blue admitted.

"We'll figure it out." Kyle stretched out the aching muscles in his arms, almost wishing for a night in the Pokémon Center. Now that things had calmed down, he was really starting to feel the toll of several consecutive battles. "I'll ask everybody if they've heard of her once we reconvene. And if they haven't, we'll look her up."

"Look her up?" Emmy said.

Kyle raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, you know, research. People write books about legendaries all the time. You two have read that 'Horrific Myth' story, right?"

"Oh. I didn't know that was about a legendary." Emmy blinked at her brother, who shrugged.

"Why do you think they're called 'legendaries'?" Kyle smirked. "The name comes from the legends people have made up about them. And those legends often get written down and turned into books, which we can find at any decent library."

Blue gave him a hard look. "And then? The books never tell you where to find them. It's always some far off land."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Then we do some detective work. At the very least, we know she's real. It might take some thinking, but we can do it."

"How do you know?" Emmy asked.

Kyle breathed out a puff of air, flashes of his short time at Canalave Library running together in his head. "Because it's not the first time I've gone looking for people in fairy tales."

* * *

He didn't expect the huge flock of Pidgeot Express pilots in front of Headquarters when he got back, screeching loudly in the middle of a victory party over the "stinkin' rock-types".

"I said we'd pay them back somehow," Ero said, his voice muddled as he pinched his bleeding nose. "Sorry about that. But they ended up being a great help, so…"

"Don't worry about it." Kyle waved a hand. He shot a concerned glance at his best friend. "Just do me a favour and get that checked out at the Pokémon Center. It looks like it might even be broken."

"Yeah, well, I think it's actually a good thing it happened." Ero grinned. "Gave me an excuse to get out of the fight and grab some backup."

Kyle gave him a look. "Thank you. Now go get it fixed."

Ero waved and walked off, his nose still trickling. Kyle grimaced.

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't gone after Dad, I could have taken care of all the guards without your friends getting hurt," Blue said.

Emmy groaned from Kyle's shoulder. "Yeah, but if you hadn't gone after Dad, he would have killed Uncle Kyle again."

Kyle felt a sickening feeling in his throat. "Guys, it's over, okay? What's done is done."

He was pretty sure Overlord wouldn't have killed him ( _again?!_ ), but he didn't really want to think about that at the moment. Having to deal with everyone else right now was bad enough.

He trudged past the bird party and over to Kevin, who was standing with Kari and Vera in front of Dream-Kari, glowering at her. A ways away, Roo seemed to be attempting to revive Chikoro, but before he could focus on that Kevin stepped in front of his line of sight, arms crossed.

"Oh, good, you're back. What happened to cape guy?" Kevin said.

Kyle bit his lip. "He ran away."

"And left all his pals behind. Awesome." He turned back to Dream-Kari, watching her unconscious form breathe softly. "Are you going to tell us what all that was about?"

"Are you going to listen to what I have to say?" Kyle said, his voice thin.

"As long as you don't lie." Kevin glared.

Kyle nodded, eyes steady. "Of course." He stepped closer to Dream-Kari, kneeling down in front of her with a frown. "Everyone who showed up to attack us is from the other world that Blue and Emmy are from."

Kevin growled, but Kari was the first to speak. "This again?"

"Yes, this again!" Kyle bared his teeth. "Or did you not see that 'cape guy' looked exactly like Kevin? Not to mention the scarless Kari in front of me."

The atmosphere around him was tense, and Emmy's iron grip on his neck fur was getting uncomfortable. He _really_ wished that everyone would just start believing him already.

"So there's another world with evil twin versions of us." Kevin's hands shifted to his hips. "That's kind of clichéd, Ky. Where's the nutjob otherworld you?"

"Dead," Vera whispered.

Kyle's muscles went stiff as everyone else turned to look at her.

"That's how— He wanted to bring people back from the dead. Only he brought us instead, while we slept. I don't think he realizes that we're not— That we aren't the people who died." Vera looked down.

Kyle closed his eyes. "Right. I don't know how he did it, but that seems to be what he wanted. Right, Blue?"

Blue wrapped his arms around his stomach. "…Yeah. That's right."

"He was really sad." Emmy slipped off his shoulder and scampered over to her brother. "Lord Shade said he needed to stop crying, because he wasn't getting anything done. So then Dad started yelling…"

"He thought everything would be all right if he had Mom and Uncle Kyle back," Blue finished. "So Lord Shade made that happen."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at Kari. "This is nuts."

"Maybe, but so are you," Chikoro muttered.

Kevin started and turned around. Chikoro, whose breathing seemed rough but was otherwise fine, rolled his eyes. "Okay, look. Your brother's a lying scumbag sometimes. We all know that. But that's clearly Kari right there, and the other guy was clearly you."

"Could be a Ditto." Kevin glanced away.

"Ditto transform back after they faint. And I'm not sure they would know how to transform into an older-looking copy of a guy." Chikoro frowned. "Either way, I'm convinced that something totally nuts is going on. Want to try and explain that dimensional rift thing that popped out of nowhere when that army showed up?"

Kari sighed. "He's got a point, dear."

Kevin groaned. "Okay, _maybe_ , but…" He glanced at Kyle, then at Vera. "I'm not evil! Why the hell would I be evil?"

"We grew up differently in that world," Kyle said. He rubbed the back of his head, thinking back to his first few dreams before Overlord started denying him information. Blue and Emmy had given him a few interesting details about the way things were supposed to be, but back then he hadn't been paying much attention. "I'm not sure when things changed, exactly, but according to Blue and Emmy our parents are dead and I wasn't that old when I died. I think I was… What age, again?"

"Fifteen," Emmy said.

"Right. Here, that's when I started the Shades, but nobody there had any idea of what I was talking about, so I'm guessing it was pretty different. Oh, and Kari claims she never met me. And you're the age you're supposed to be, so—"

"Okay, okay." Kevin pressed his hands together, rubbing them against his forehead. " _Okay_. Crapsack world or whatever. But the kids aren't evil, and from the sounds of it you probably weren't either, so why am I?!"

Blue frowned. "Mom never thought you were evil."

Kevin looked wildly at Vera. She glared at him. "I'm not that version of me. I don't know what she was thinking."

"Kevin, the only person who can give you an answer is Overlord, okay? Nobody here knows what's going on with him." Kyle stood up.

" _Overlord_? Really?" Kevin raised his eyebrows.

Kyle shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, you're two different people, so he gets a different name."

Kevin seemed somewhat mollified. "Hmph. Good. Because I'm not him."

They stared at each other for a moment before Kari cleared her throat. "That's all fine and dandy, but what about this one?" She swung her neck towards Dream-Kari, who was still knocked out.

Kyle blinked. "Um… She was my prison guard."

"Oh, great, so I'm evil, too."

"Kari!" Kyle said exasperatedly.

"Excuse me, but you didn't feel the need to give _her_ a different name," Kari said.

"That's because she's not evil!" Kyle clenched his fists. "She just follows Overlord's orders because she likes him."

Kari stared pointedly at him. "You've got to be kidding."

"That's _so_ not Kari," Kevin said.

Chikoro laughed. "Yes it is."

Kyle never imagined a day where Chikoro would be on his side, but right now he didn't mind it in the slightest. "Come on, Kari. Remember the window?"

She glared. "Naturally."

He cringed at her word choice. "Right, well, you _told_ me it was a dumb idea, but you never stopped me from actually doing it, even though you knew it was risky. And then the first thing I heard you say when I woke up was that you were in love with me."

"Piss off, I was fifteen, then," Kari grumbled. " _She's_ a grown woman who should know better by now."

"Maybe you can tell her that when she wakes up, then. Lecture her on where she went wrong," Kyle said. "Because god knows she needs _that_ after what just happened."

Kari looked like she was about to retort, but Chikoro chose that moment to make a particularly loud show of clearing his throat. "Anyway. Maybe we can stop being angry for a second and figure out where to go from here?"

Kyle blinked. "Uh… yeah. That sounds good."

Chikoro nodded. "Okay. So cape guy – Overlord, if we're actually calling him that – thinks you're his dead brother, and that's why he showed up here with a bunch of pretentious stat-trained assholes to beat you up or whatever. Cool. Is there any chance of convincing him that you're not the guy he thinks you are?"

"No, he's irrational," Vera said.

Chikoro grimaced. "Yeah, I figured. So, what, do we need another Master Ball?"

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I hadn't thought about that, but it sounds a lot easier than our plan." He turned to Blue and Emmy.

"What's a Master Ball?" Emmy asked.

"It's a Pokéball with a guaranteed success rate," Kyle said. "Basically jail."

Emmy looked at Blue. "Does that work on people who can pop out of nowhere?"

Blue shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever Dad did, it was like he was ripping the air open or something. Maybe if Pokéballs don't have air…" he trailed off thoughtfully.

"When you're in a Pokéball, you're made up of data." Kevin's eyes were far away. "Theoretically, that keeps you from doing anything physical, but it's not impossible to force yourself out of one. I just couldn't tell you how it works. Right, Kyle?"

"Well, I guess. I was never good at getting out of them, and it's hard for me to wrap my head around technology." Kyle sighed. "But I don't know, I guess it's worth a shot to try and catch him. Stuff him in the same box as that _rat_."

"Easy there, warden," Chikoro said. "The last thing you want is two evil masterminds in the same prison."

"Regardless," Kyle said, "we're all a lot happier without Chuno around, and I think the same goes for Overlord, too. So how do we get our hands on another Master Ball?"

"Not from Dad," Kevin muttered. "I don't think Lilycove was too happy about what happened to the first one."

"You can buy one, can't you?" Kari said.

"If you're loaded, maybe," Chikoro said.

Kyle frowned. "Well, then, what about the next level down, um, _Hyper Ball_ , I think…?"

"Ultra," Kevin said. "Twelve bucks a pop."

"I'll… do an exclusive or something." Kyle crossed his arms.

Kari frowned. "I'm sure your dad would give you some extra cash if you asked."

Kyle shook his head. He was pretty sure his father was already giving him a good chunk of money in the form of regular anonymous cash donations, and the amount included each month had increased since he'd told his dad about Blue and Emmy. He didn't want to take even more if he didn't have to. He _did_ get legitimate payment for his interviews, after all.

"Look, I can handle it, don't worry. How many do we need?" he asked.

Kevin puffed out a breath. "Well. That depends. How weak are we getting him? Because if you just chuck Ultra Balls at him every time you see his face without battling him first, it's less likely to work. If we can get some kind of status condition on him, too, that'll help the odds." He paused, making a face. "We're talking like humans."

"I recall our discussion about the rat going the same way. You didn't care then." Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but that was Chuno. This is me!" Kevin said. "Or, well, not me, but…"

"This is a version of you who has been just about as antagonistic to me as Chuno." Kyle's face scrunched up. "I don't think he tries to be as malicious, at least not actively, but that doesn't change what he's done, or what his kids have gone through."

"Well, I guess, but…" Kevin raised his eyebrows in an almost comically exaggerated fashion. "Now I'm wondering what your first plan was."

"To get involved in a legendary war," Kyle said flatly. He crossed his arms.

"Come again?" Kevin said.

"Overlord's taking orders from this guy, Lord Shade, who's a legendary," Kyle said. "Blue wanted to defect to the other side and take them both down that way."

Kevin nodded slowly. "Huh…"

"Sorry for cutting in," Chikoro said, "but isn't that actually the better option?"

Kyle blinked. "…No?"

"But if the root of the problem is the nutbar employing him, then taking the guy down will solve things permanently, right?" Chikoro stuck out his tongue. "I mean, would he still go after you if his boss wasn't making him?"

"I think I like our idea better, too." Blue looked up at Kyle, still holding his sides. "You heard what he said to you before he ran away, right?"

"I think you're all missing the meaning of the word 'war'." A sickening feeling crept into Kyle's throat.

"I think you're missing the fact that we were just in one." Chikoro gestured to Dream-Kari. "Listen. The way I see it, we can chuck Pokéballs at a minion and call it a day, or we can go for the guy who really deserves all the blame. I like the second option."

Kyle frowned. "Chikoro, you're—"

"What, not thinking things through? I'm not the one trying to find the easier solution instead of the right one." Chikoro's gaze was firm.

Kyle closed his mouth and said nothing, folding his arms.

"Chicky…" Kevin said slowly, his face unreadable. "Do you really believe that this is a legendary's fault?"

Chikoro breathed a heavy sigh. "Oh, here we go."

"Yeah, here we go. You know that legendaries are totally bunk, right?" Kevin said.

"We're dealing with _other worlds_ here. How else could stuff like that even happen? And don't you go throwing all your atheism rants at me, because legendaries aren't gods." Chikoro glared.

"I saw them myself, Kev," Kyle said quietly. "Chikoro's right, they're not gods. I don't think gods can get beat up by ten-year-olds."

Blue's mouth formed a tiny smile.

Kevin took a deep breath, bringing a hand up to his face. He eyed Kyle steadily, occasionally glancing at Chikoro, then Kari, then Blue. Finally, he lowered his hand and grimaced.

"All right. We'll do this. But first…" He let out a long sigh. "Maybe we should clean up your front yard."

* * *

One by one, the members of Overlord's army started to wake up. Kevin was prepared to start fighting the more aggressive ones again, but before he could shoot any fireballs, Emmy stepped in, addressing all the giant rock types like a pro.

"Listen up!" she shouted, puffing her chest out. "I forbid you all from attacking anybody here ever again! Got it?"

One of the soldiers whispered something unintelligible to the person beside him. Emmy glared at him.

"My dad's not here! But if you disobey me, you'll have my mom and brother to deal with!"

None of the army said anything after that.

"She's something else," Kevin muttered, raising an eyebrow.

Kyle snorted. "What, threatening people with physical violence? Like you didn't do that when we were kids."

Kevin shook his head. "Whatever. You're fine with letting them all go?"

"It's not like we can do much else. And I doubt they think much of their king now that he's abandoned them here. I don't see them as a threat." Kyle shrugged.

"Okay. What are we doing next, then?" Kevin asked.

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I want to go to Canalave Library to see if we can get some more information on the legendaries we're involved with. Then we'll hunt the good one down and see if we can get her on our side."

"And the rest of us?" Kevin said.

"Well, you can come if you want, but it'll involve reading books." Kyle gave his brother an aside glance.

"Hey, I've gotten better at that! And did you not just spend the last half hour arguing with me to get me to help you?" Kevin put his hands on his hips.

"True." Kyle's eyebrows creased as he watched everyone else scattered around the yard having similar small talk. "How many people are planning on coming, exactly?"

"Let's see. There's me and Chicky and Kari, obviously." Kevin listed them off on his fingers. "Then I guess Vera, because she's seen these so-called legendaries, too. Oh, and your kids."

"They're not—"

"Look, take it from me. They might call you Uncle, but you're basically their dad," Kevin said.

Kyle flushed.

"Anyway. You should probably wrestle up some pilots for us. Seeing as the bad guys have got teleporting maniacs on their side…"

"Yeah, I know. Overlord could show up any second." Kyle sighed. "Don't let your guard down and all that."

Kevin nodded. "Right. You especially." Kevin bit his lip and cut eye contact.

"What?" Kyle said, tired enough to sound more annoyed than he intended.

Kevin gave him a look. "Cut the attitude, okay? I'm trying to—" Kevin swore, shaking his head. "Look, I'm sorry. You… weren't lying, at least not about some things, and I treated you like crap."

Kyle blinked. "Oh. Thanks."

"Don't let it get to your head," Kevin said. "You're still a terrible person when it comes to Little, and you have a lot to make up for."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "I know."

Taking a deep breath, Kevin brushed past him with his head held high. "Right, so… Let's get going. If you're tired, you can take a nap on the way. I'll make sure you don't fall off."

Kyle stared. From the awkward pauses and the passive-aggressive shows of kindness, Kevin could have easily passed for Overlord.

"Ky?" Kevin said.

"Right," Kyle said. "Sorry."


	18. Chapter 18

"What if they don't let us in?" Kevin asked, cupping his chin.

"They let me in before," Kyle said.

"Yeah, but you weren't carrying a full party with you." Kevin looked behind him. Kyle followed his gaze.

Kari stuck out the worst, but even without her, Kyle doubted bringing such a large group of Pokémon into a human building would be well-received. Top that off with Chikoro, who was certainly going to violate the acceptable noise levels, and Kyle's lackluster spirits were already plummeting further.

"I should have just brought Ero and Stell," he muttered, crossing his arms. But Ero had a broken nose and Stella was with Little…

"And what, leave your house alone with your new security guard?" Kevin smirked. "I'm surprised you gave him that much power on his first day."

Kyle shot his brother a look. "I didn't have much choice. Look, let me go in there and I'll smooth things over."

"They'll listen?" Kevin said, incredulous.

Kyle nodded firmly. "Of course they will. I'll be right back."

Before anyone could stop him (not that anyone would), Kyle pushed his way through the glass doors. He stepped inside the library, taking in the view. It was strange how familiar it was, with the same paint on the walls and the same dusty carpeting, even if more than a few bookcases had been rearranged. Then again, it had been something like home to him for a while.

His chest panged suddenly, and he stopped halfway through a step. God, he had missed this place. And yet, a small part of him wished he hadn't come back, at least not yet.

He took a breath and turned to the right, where he remembered the front desk was. The clerk hadn't seen him yet; it looked like she was busy doing data entry, her fingers clacking over the old keyboard. She wasn't the same clerk from that summer, but she looked a bit like her, with her hair tied back in the same way. Maybe she was a sister or some other relative. Either way, the success of this trip depended on how reasonable she was.

Kyle bit back a sigh and walked up to the desk, spotting the stepping stool usually used for little kids who couldn't reach the counter. He dragged it over, climbed on it, and stared the clerk down, doing his best to keep his expression neutral.

"Hello," he said.

The clerk looked up, bored, before her eyes widened and she jerked back. Great. "Uh—!"

"My name is Kyle. A few of my friends and I would like access to the materials on the third floor. Will that be a problem?"

The clerk continued to gawk at him. Kyle frowned. Stella was a lot better at asking things like this.

"I… I don't plan on checking anything out, but I have a library card, if that helps." Kyle pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He rummaged through it, pulling out the small, plastic card that was in decidedly good condition, given its age. "See, it says— Oh, it's expired…"

Kyle pursed his lips at the almost fifteen-year-old card. It had been so long, he didn't even remember they _could_ expire. "Okay… Look, do you know who I am?"

The clerk shifted her chair back.

"Not like that!" Kyle's eyes widened. "All I mean is— Before anyone knew who I was, I was able to use this library. And I— I was so grateful, I left a note." Kyle took a deep breath. "It's written in the corner of the inside of that drawer, the one under the monitor. It says 'thank you'. All I'm asking is for the same treatment I got all those years ago. Is that all right?"

The clerk stared at him, unmoving. After what seemed like an eternity, she cleared her throat.

"That was you?"

Kyle blinked. "Yes."

The clerk stared him down. "Well… as long as you abide by the rules… I suppose it's all right."

Relief washed over him and he felt himself relax. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

The clerk nodded and went back to her work, refusing to look him in the eye. Kyle climbed down from the stool, coaxing the shake out of his legs. As much as he loved his work, he hated talking to strangers one on one. Crowds were better. He was too far away to read awkward and fearful faces when he spoke to a bunch of people at once.

He made his way back to the entrance and stepped outside, catching his group's attention. "We're good."

Kari raised an eyebrow. "Nice. What'd you do, shift your weight around as a library alumnus?"

"Something like that." Kyle refused to let his nerves come back. "We can't be too loud, though. No shouting, and keep conversations short and quiet."

He saw Chikoro rolling his eyes and made his tone sharper. "I mean it. I'm already kicked off of Stark Mountain for life, and I don't need to add another place to the list." _Especially_ one he actually liked.

Kevin nodded. "Chicky, don't talk to anyone but Kari."

"Why not?" Chikoro said, offended.

"It might reduce your chances of getting in a fight," Kevin said. Chikoro made a face at Kevin, but stayed quiet.

"Right, so now that that's settled." Kyle turned around and pushed open the doors. "Let's go in."

They were barely inside when he heard the clerk make a strange noise. He blinked at her and followed her line of sight to Kari, who was currently squeezing her way through the human-sized doors. He turned to her hastily with a nervous smile.

"Uh, Kari, once you're in, you should probably stay on the first floor," he said. "We'll bring some books down for you."

She eyed the stairs critically. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Chikoro stayed with Kari while the rest of the group followed Kyle up the staircase to the third floor. At the top, Kyle's nostalgia nearly doubled – the kid-friendly colours and shelving took all of his conflicting feelings away and replaced them with something warm he couldn't quite place. He strode over to the large window seat, his old reading corner, and took in the sunlight-bathed view.

God he missed it here.

"So you lived here for a summer?" Kevin walked up behind him. At least he was savvy enough to remember to keep his voice low.

Kyle nodded. "The librarian was very kind. I came in here one day when it was raining, and she let me stay for as long as I wanted. I probably would have stayed longer if she hadn't died."

"Must've been nice." Kevin crossed his arms. "Y'know, aside from the fact that it was right after you abandoned Kari."

Kyle bristled. "Don't remind me," he growled.

"Uncle Kyle," Emmy called from a few feet away, "is this you?"

Kyle turned to see what she was talking about. On the far wall was a huge, sepia-toned memorial photo of Mrs. Lucas, the librarian, posing with a cart full of award-winning books. At the left side, there was a portion of the window seat, showing about half of him with his nose in one of the myth books—

"I didn't know I was in that shot." Kyle felt his face heat up.

"You're kind of small-looking," Emmy said.

"How old are you in that?" Blue asked.

Kyle turned to the side. "Fifteen."

"Huh, I always wondered what you looked like as a teenager." Kevin got up close to the picture. "Turns out, same as always! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were the one who never aged."

" _Anyway_." Kyle tapped his foot. "The books about legendaries are over here."

He led the way to a blue bookcase and pointed to the top row, which was filled with books in all sorts of colours. He pulled one out and flipped it open.

"Yeah. Here's 'A Horrific Myth'. This one's supposed to be about lake spirits or something. Does Cresselia have anything to do with lakes?" Kyle looked up at Blue.

Blue shrugged. "I never overheard anything like that."

"Well, I guess we'll keep looking." Kyle put the book back. He read the titles critically. "Let's see…"

He pulled out three decently long books about general legends and handed them to Blue. "Give those to Kari. Emmy—"

"I can read!" Emmy puffed out her chest.

"—Great. You can help Kevin." Kyle handed her an easier one.

" _Thanks_ ," Kevin said.

"And then…" He glanced at Vera, realizing she was there. He didn't know when he'd forgotten, but he felt a little guilty regardless. "Um, Vera, you can read, right?"

She shifted her weight around, avoiding his gaze. "Yes. I'm not bad."

Kyle frowned. Normally, he'd think she was just being her meek and modest self, but with something as rare as reading ability he couldn't really tell. After staring at her a moment, he turned around and tapped the shelves. "Okay, how about you pick something you feel comfortable with? I'm thinking something from this side." He gestured to his right. That particular half of the bookshelf held no real significance, but he wanted to give her some sort of direction. Vera nodded and quietly stepped closer to the shelf to read the titles.

"Remember, if you find any information that sounds like it could be about the Pokémon Overlord's working for, that's helpful too. So that leaves me and you," he said to Blue, his fingers trailing along the left side of the bookshelf. "I guess… one of these?"

After a few false starts and some more random directing, everybody had gotten a book or two they were comfortable with. Kevin had even turned out to be a bit better at reading than Kyle had given him credit for. Before long, he was the one helping Emmy instead of the other way around. Kyle noted in amusement that Kevin was saying some very Kari-like things to guide her. He wouldn't have been surprised if Kevin was quoting Kari word-for-word.

It was actually a bit unsettling, Kyle decided, so he discreetly moved himself over to his old window seat where Blue was currently curled up and reading. He settled down on the cushion, let out a tiny, contented sigh, and glanced at Blue.

His nephew's eyebrows were creased, and he barely seemed to acknowledge Kyle coming over to sit next to him. Concerned, Kyle raised his eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Blue shook his head. "I just can't stop thinking about that picture of you. You— Dad's brother would've looked like that when he died."

"Mm." Kyle recalled his first meeting with his niece and nephew. They _had_ been surprised that he wasn't younger.

"I guess I've just been wondering what it would have been like." Blue played with the corner of a page. "If he had really come back to life, I mean."

"I think your dad would have been happy." Kyle tapped his fingers. "Although the meaning of consequence might have gotten lost."

Blue blinked, and for a second Kyle thought he needed to rework his word choice, but then his nephew spoke. "I don't know about that. He already lost you once."

Kyle frowned, leaning back onto the window. Well, yeah. But the way Overlord seemed to delude himself told Kyle that the king wasn't exactly well-versed in his aesops. However traumatically Overlord had grown up, he'd apparently missed the lessons on how to be a decent person.

…The fact that it didn't come naturally to him made Kyle shudder.

"Is it bad if I don't hate him?" Blue whispered.

Kyle shook himself out of his thoughts. "Hm?"

"My dad." Blue kept his eyes on the book in his hands.

"Um…" Kyle let out a breath. "Well… no? Most people don't see hatred as a good thing, but… You really don't hate him, after everything that's happened to you?"

Blue frowned. "Not really. Emmy does, and I understand why. But I…" He looked up at Kevin and Emmy, watching Kyle's brother intently. "I guess seeing what he would've been if he was a normal guy just makes me feel sorry for him instead. I find it hard to put all the blame on him."

"Even if Lord Shade was pulling the strings, Overlord still made his own decisions. Just look at you. You grew up in the same environment and you're one of the kindest people I've met." Kyle narrowed his eyes.

"But I didn't." Blue's eyes narrowed as well. "I grew up as royalty in a castle with a family and the lords telling me all about the 'potential' within me and stuff like that. Dad grew up as an orphan who constantly had to prove his worth by manipulating and hurting people. And I—"

Blue's voice cracked. "I acted out. I refused orders. But the lord still wanted me. If Dad made the smallest mistake, he was punished severely. And I'm only now starting to realize how messed up that was."

Without even realizing he was doing it, Kyle wrapped an arm around Blue. It might have been a protective gesture if Kyle wasn't so obviously the weaker of the two. "Hey. We're putting an end to all of that, all right? We'll find this Cresselia, help her take out Lord Shade, and then maybe your dad can learn how to be a better person. Promise."

Blue stared at the ground. "You can't promise something like that."

Kyle tightened his grip around Blue. "Yes I can. I know my promises can sometimes be empty, but I really mean it this time."

Blue looked at him. "Resolve like that gets people killed," he said softly. "Dad said."

 _"_ _If you stay here, you'll die."_

 _Blue stood firm. "Not without a fight, I won't."_

 _"_ _You can't win that fight," Overlord said. "Kyle didn't, and neither did your mother."_

Kyle breathed, determined. "Maybe so. But I can't think of anything other than resolve that's kept me alive."

Blue blinked.

"I was a malnourished, underdeveloped thirteen-year-old with a couple dozen deep lacerations and a punctured lung. I really shouldn't have survived." He glanced down at Blue. "But I did, because my best friend needed me and I wasn't going to—"

 _Abandon her_.

Kyle looked down, trying to keep his eyes from watering too noticeably. "My point is, I care about you a lot. And I've never felt this strongly about anything for a long time, not even Pokémon rights. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you don't have to deal with any of this crap again so you can grow up and start your own family and travel and have the life you always wanted. Okay?"

It stayed silent between them for what seemed like a long time. Kyle could hear his own intense breathing and for a second he thought he'd overdone it, but he shook that thought away. How could he overdo something like that, when he was talking about one of the strongest gut feelings he'd ever had in his life? If anything, he wasn't passionate enough—

"We're in a library, y'know, Ky?" Kevin said from the table, licking his finger to turn a page.

Kyle felt his face literally burning.

"Th-thanks, Uncle Kyle," Blue stammered, hiding his face behind his book.

Maybe his resolve would be the death of him, after all.

* * *

"Yo!" Chikoro strolled onto the upper floor an hour and a half later. "Kari found it."

Kevin sighed loudly, slamming his book shut. "About time."

"I was expecting longer, actually." Kyle put down his book. Kevin shot him a dirty glare.

Everyone followed Chikoro back down the stairs to the first floor, where Kari sat comfortably in a little nook (well, little for _her_ ) between the shelves. She seemed pretty proud of herself. Her head was held higher than usual and she was smiling in that weird reptilian way that Kyle remembered from his years in the lab. He nodded to her, and she grinned.

"Here you go. Cresselia, the legendary Pokémon of Fullmoon Island. Her feathers are supposed to cure nightmares and stuff." Kari pressed her foot lightly down on the book she was holding open, and nodded to it. There was an old, yellowed illustration of a vaguely birdlike Pokémon with what looked like crescent-shaped wings. "Bit of a local legend, looks like. Fullmoon isn't too far from this city."

"Wait, really?" Kyle's eyebrows creased. "Those feathers… They're called lunar wings, right?"

"Yep," Kari said. "Heard of them?"

"Of course I have, it's impossible to live in this city without hearing about them. Humans hang them everywhere," Kyle said. He grumbled. No wonder it had sounded familiar. He was lucky he hadn't said anything, otherwise Kari would have hit him. "Man, _I_ could have told you that if I had just known Cresselia was _that_ legendary."

"Well, you didn't, but at least we all know now." Kari peered at him. "So this Cresselia's definitely real?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, you can get tour boats to go to the island and pick up feathers yourself. Actually seeing her is another story, though."

"That's what the book says," Kari said. "She hides from humans. We're not humans, though."

"Handy." Kevin pushed past Kyle. "Can we get some birds to take us there?"

"What's wrong with the boat?" Chikoro said.

"Boats aren't free," Kevin replied.

"More convenient than air travel for me, though," Kari muttered.

Kevin grimaced. "Yeah, I know. We might want to get you a travel Pokéball or something."

"After all these years of being free from those things? No way am I—"

"Um…" Vera coughed into her hand.

Kari eyed her critically.

"I actually found something, too." She gestured with a thick-looking book in her hands. "I wasn't sure how relevant it was, but it has something that looks like that drawing of Cresselia, so…"

She opened the book to a spot she had been keeping with her finger and laid it on the floor for everyone to see. An intricate image painted in traditional inks lay across a two page spread, so heavily stylized that if Kyle didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at, he wouldn't have recognized it. There were several legendary Pokémon arranged in the image in a circular pattern, centered around what Kyle could only describe as an abstract golden horse. On either side of the horse's head were the birdlike Cresselia and a dark, black scrawl with a single blue eye.

"That's Lord Shade," Kyle said.

Vera nodded. "I thought so too. Do you think the placement means anything?"

"Like they're counterparts or something?" Kyle scratched his chin. "Maybe. A lot of legendaries come in pairs, don't they?"

"Lord Shade always called her 'his opposite'." Blue said.

"Right, right, you mentioned that," Kyle said.

"Hold on." Kevin squinted down at the picture. "So that Lord Shade guy is just a black blob with an eye? What is he, half a Gastly?"

"He can change form." Emmy glared at the book. "His real form has white hair and these creepy red tooth thingies and big arms and claws and—"

"He doesn't show it much." Blue nudged his sister. "He usually looks like the shadow of the person he's talking to. Mom and Uncle Kyle saw what he really looks like, though."

Kyle crossed his arms and nodded sagely. "Yeah. Always has that big blue eye, though. It's really unsettling."

"Unsettling, huh?" Kevin muttered. His tail flicked.

"Oh, come on, you know yours are creepy," Chikoro said under his breath. Kevin flicked his tail at him.

"It's different than yours," Kyle groaned. "But anyway! Now that we know where to go, I guess we should get going. Cresselia could probably use the help."

"And who exactly counts as 'we'?" Kevin said.

"Well…" That was a good question.

If it were just simply a question of warning Cresselia about Lord Shade's vague schemes, just he, Blue and Emmy would suffice. But if they were going to get more involved than humble messengers, Kyle figured having Kevin and company come along would be helpful, especially considering his own mediocre battling skills. But then if they did get involved, surely Lord Shade would recognize that, and having everyone else sit at home, open for an attack…

"I guess… everyone here… and maybe the others should…" Kyle bit his lip.

"I think everyone should make their own choice about being involved or not," Kari said, her voice even. "After all, from my understanding, there's considerable risk."

Everyone nodded, somewhat uneasily. Kevin cleared his throat.

"Yeah, I'd rather not get drafted. All in favour of going to war?"

Chikoro's vine shot up, along with Blue and Emmy's hands. Vera tentatively raised her hand after a moment. Everyone else stayed still.

"If you're going to ask people to fight for you, at least have the decency to march into battle with them," Kevin muttered, shooting a dirty glare Kyle's way.

Kyle blinked. "Oh— Sorry, I thought— Never mind." He raised his hand.

"So that leaves me and—"

"I'm thinking," Kari said.

Kevin gawked at her. "Is _anyone_ going to side with me today?"

"I'm not siding with anyone." Kari gave Kevin a firm look. "I'm weighing all the facts right now, okay?"

"But you're leaning towards saying yes," Kevin spat. "Even though you have _nothing_ to do with this crazy—"

"Stop pretending we have nothing to do with it. Even if Overlord wasn't your doppelgänger, the fact remains that he and his army attacked Kyle and by extension, us. And then there's the fact that the enemy's led by an enigmatic legendary that hardly anyone knows about. If it were a normal war, it'd be different – there'd be a lot of other people willing to fight for the cause. But it's not. We're the only ones who can fight, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with standing by in those circumstances."

She looked at him pointedly. Kevin stared back, his lips thin.

"…You really know how to rock a debate, don't you?" Kevin muttered.

"You don't have to agree with me," Kari said.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes I wonder about that."

"Would you quit whining already? I thought you agreed to help Mr. Shade back at Headquarters," Chikoro muttered.

"I agreed to helping find Cresselia so we could warn her. I never signed up to risk my life for something I'm only _tangentially_ involved in." Kevin crossed his arms.

Kyle let out a curt breath. "Is it because it's my problem?"

Kevin's eyes darted up.

Kyle crossed his arms as well. "Seriously. I know we've never really been on good terms, and that I've never tried to change that. But I can't help but think that if this whole Overlord thing happened to Kari or Little or Chikoro or even some random stranger, you'd help them in a heartbeat. But because it's me, you're being as big of a dick as you possibly can, because that's just what you do. Am I right?"

Kevin opened his mouth, but Kyle didn't let him speak. "Well, I'm sorry, okay? I'm really, really sorry. For whatever it was that made you hate me in the first place, and for everything I did after. If you want, I'm willing to make things better between us, but to do that, you've got to work with me. And right now, working with me means doing everything we can to make sure these kids aren't brought back to their hellhole of a castle."

Kyle felt his body heat rising, and it took all of his will to cool himself down. He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the imprints of his nails dig into his skin. "These kids… These kids are great kids, okay? It doesn't matter who their parents are. They're part of our family, now. But even if they weren't… are you really going to let them suffer just because _I_ asked you to help them?"

Kevin closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then slowly opened them again. His eyes were narrow, icy, scary, and again, Kyle found himself comparing his brother to Overlord. It was eerie how quickly Kevin could change the atmosphere of the room so that he was intimidating.

"Would you do the same for me?" Kevin spoke slowly and coolly.

"What?"

Kevin's eyes didn't waver. "Seven years ago, I adopted Little. Blood related or not, he became part of the family, but you wanted nothing to do with him. I told you he was a great kid, and you only grudgingly let him meet you. Before that, you refused to listen to any of my explanations about what happened to me. And don't even get me started on all the faces you'd make whenever I came over to see Kari."

Kyle swallowed, narrowing his eyes.

"You're just as guilty of being antagonistic. When was the last time you truly, sincerely wanted to help me from the goodness of your heart? Can you think of even one?"

"…I tried to find you, when you were missing," Kyle said quietly.

"Yeah, you gave up on that one pretty quickly, didn't you?" Kevin cocked his head.

Kyle glared. "That wasn't—"

"Look. You want my honest opinion? Back when we met up again, I thought you'd actually grown up a little. I was seriously willing to give you another chance. You screwed it up when you had your reunion with Kari and went back to being an asshole. But for those two days, things were pretty okay." Kevin frowned. "If you really – _really_ – want to fix things, then I'm willing to give it another shot. But you've got to acknowledge your wrongdoings, too. No 'sorry for whatever's. Actual, sincere apologies. If you need a list of things to apologize for, that can be arranged."

Kevin glanced to the side. "Of course, the same goes for me. I'm sorry for being insufferable today. Recent events have put me in a terrible mood."

Kyle nodded, slowly, letting the apology sink in. It wasn't often that Kevin was open, but when he was, there was something in his words that radiated honesty. In a second, he had gone from scary to someone who truly regretted what had happened, and Kyle had to appreciate that.

"I'm sorry for shutting Little out for so long," Kyle said.

"I'm sorry for not believing you about the dream stuff."

"I'm sorry for getting jealous about Kari."

"I'm sorry for assuming the worst when you told me who Blue and Emmy's parents were."

"I'm—"

"Okay!" Kari cut in. "I'm really happy for you two, but maybe we can save the make up session for later?" She looked like she was trying not to smile too widely.

"Right." Kyle felt his face flush a little. "Um, I think I'll go… call Headquarters. I'll find out who else is coming. Uh—"

He turned to Kari. "We never got a final decision from you."

"I'll go," she said. "It wouldn't sit right with me if I didn't."

"Thank you." Kyle gave her a meaningful look.

Kevin sighed. "All right, well, if Kari's going, I guess I am, too."

"Fishing for boyfriend points?" Kari said, amused.

"More like big brother ones," Kevin muttered. "And… I guess it wouldn't sit right with me either." He glanced at Blue and Emmy.

Well. At least some good things were happening today.

* * *

To Kyle's dismay, Roo of all people answered the phone.

"Uh—" Kyle stammered, expecting blue and getting a mix of tan and green. "Hi?"

"Hello Boss!" Roo saluted. "How's it going?"

Kyle blinked. "Well… We found out where Cresselia is. Fullmoon Island. We're going to fly over there soon."

"That's great!" Roo said.

"Yeah," Kyle echoed, folding his arms. "So, um—"

"So listen," Roo said, suddenly serious. "Right after you left, like literally, the second you were gone? This Meganium showed up out of nowhere and took the army with him through the same kind of thing they showed up in! Only his was orange. He wouldn't answer when we asked what was going on, but he wasn't really doing anything bad, so we just kind of let him."

"Oh," Kyle said. "Okay."

"You don't think they'll come back, do you?" Roo asked. "Stella was worried they might, but I figured they learned their lesson."

Roo stared confidently, and Kyle stuttered out a reply. "Um, I really don't know. Really. About Cresselia—"

"Oh, sorry, was there something else? My bad," Roo said.

Okay, that settled it. Roo was the most awkward person Kyle had ever talked to. Ever.

"Yes, there was," Kyle said, speeding up his speech so Roo wouldn't cut him off again. "I wanted to know if anyone at HQ was also willing to go. It's risky, and if everyone feels safer—"

"HEY! STELLA! ERO!" Roo shouted down the hall.

 _"_ _Life of the sun, this was a mistake,"_ Kyle muttered under his breath while massaging his temple.

After a few more minutes of inefficient parlaying, Kyle eventually got confirmation that everyone at HQ was ready to go to Fullmoon Island and that they'd meet him there. Even Little. Kyle didn't feel particularly good about that, nor, did he imagine, would Kevin, but Blue and Emmy had just been allowed to make their own decision on the matter. It would have been hypocritical to treat Little like the child he was after treating two other kids like adults, right? At the very least, Little was probably safer with everybody than he was left to his own devices.

Kyle let out a stressful sigh as he hung up the receiver. So that was that. Everyone was involved, of their own volition and everything. This was serious. It was really happening. And Kyle had no idea what they were doing.

But for Blue and Emmy's sake, he had to try. And, miraculously enough, Kevin was going to, too. He didn't have to handle things on his own anymore.

"When this is over, I'm going to have a list of things to thank him for, too, aren't I?" Kyle laughed to himself. And just like that, he already felt a bit better.


	19. Chapter 19

Seeing Fullmoon Island from above, it was a wonder why it wasn't called Crescent Island instead. What with Cresselia's name and the vague shape of alcove where humans had set up a rudimentary dock, it certainly didn't resemble the full face of the moon. Maybe the name didn't come from the shape, but the effect that the moon had on the tides there or something. Maybe Kyle was just overthinking things.

He thanked his pilot upon landing and made his way over to the rest of the group who had already made it. They'd have to wait a while before the group from Headquarters made it over, simply because they had a farther distance to travel, but Kevin and Chikoro seemed to be passing the time with a rather intense game of tic tac toe. Ever the strategic one, Emmy was standing over the scribbles in the dirt, occasionally yelling at one of them for making "such a weakass move like that".

At this point, it was probably impossible to wean her away from crude language. Vera buried her face in her hands.

One by one, the rest arrived. Kari, slightly nauseous from her second flight that day (they had called several pilots to transport her alone), then, Ero, Stella, Roo, Little, and—

"Um," Kyle said. "Is this Catchy?"

Little nodded. "Yeah."

The Pikachu beside him merely wiggled her ears.

Kyle pulled Stella to the side. "What's going on? Don't her parents care?"

"No," Little and his friend said at the same time.

"I've lived on my own for three years," Catchy said.

Kyle squinted. "Right… You're responsible for yourself."

The Pikachu smiled.

"All right!" Kyle clapped his hands above his head. "We're all here! I guess we should try and meet Cresselia!"

"How are we going to do that?" Stella asked.

"I have no clue." Kyle put on a placid smile.

"Figures," Stella said with a scoff, but she smiled back.

"According to the signs, there's a small trail that leads to a clearing. The rest is just woods." Kyle crossed his arms. "Lots and lots of woods."

"But she has to go into the clearing at some point, right? To drop those lunar wings?" Stella prompted.

Kyle shrugged. "All in favour of camping out in the clearing until she shows up?"

No one made much of a committal gesture.

Kevin pursed his lips. "We have no idea how long that'll take. Searching for her's going to take forever, too. We need to get her to come to us sooner."

"Any ideas?" Kyle asked.

"You could set a tree on fire," Chikoro said.

" _That_ 'll go over well." Kevin shook his head, and then started to make his way up the path to the clearing. "Maybe we should just… I don't know, shout a lot and stuff?"

"Either way, I doubt she'll be too happy with all of us." Kyle followed Kevin's lead. "Might as well go for it."

The party made their way down the short path. Despite claims of the island being untouched, the path held the distinct evidence of being human-traveled. Cigarette butts and candy wrappers lay half-buried in the trodden dirt that paved the way forward a little too perfectly to be natural, and every few feet stood a metal sign encouraging visitors to be environmentally friendly. Kyle wondered why Cresselia hadn't bothered to abandon the island to get away from the human influence, but then he figured that if humans came barging into his underground home, he wouldn't be too eager to get up and leave what he considered his, either.

After a few minutes they reached the clearing, which, as advertised, was home to a few shiny yellowish-green feathers floating atop a shallow crescent-shaped pond. Little and his friend ran over to the edge of the pond to try and fish them out, and Kyle almost went after them, but Kevin held his shoulder.

"Let them mess around. If Cresselia cared about people taking the feathers she'd have Psychic'd the humans for it, right?"

"Right…" Kyle mumbled. He glanced around. "So… I guess we should start yelling?"

"Uncle Slickky, come see this!" Little shouted, pointing at the pond. Catchy was pawing at the water in curiosity.

"In a sec—" Kyle started, but Kevin had already left his side to go lean over the shallow water.

"What, is it a Pokémon? It's not nice to stare—"

Before Kevin could finish, a small, white streak darted its head out from the water, staring up at him. Kevin's voice faltered as he raised an eyebrow, but he regained his composure fairly quickly.

"Uh, hi," Kevin said. "Sorry, we're not trying to bother you—"

The small Pokémon's head turned 180 degrees, and Kyle's breath caught in his throat.

He may have been almost completely submerged and his white hair may have been slicked down by the weight of being wet, but there was no mistaking his identity with such a large, haunting cyan eye. The Pokémon before them was Lord Shade. At least, that was what Kyle thought for the second before the Pokémon began to elevate himself out of the pond. As his body slowly came into view, Kyle noticed that he was much, much smaller. The Lord Shade that Kyle had encountered was about twice the size as he was, but this one didn't even come up to Kevin's shoulders. His body also looked sleeker, less tattered, like he'd been cut fresh from new cloth rather than frayed with age. So… a baby?

The unknown Pokémon blinked and turned back to Kevin. _"Hi! Are you looking for Mama?"_ That voice… was definitely _not_ Lord Shade's.

"Mama?" Kevin repeated, squinting. He opened his mouth to continue, but was distracted by Vera, who had stomped over, growling, her tail flame enlarged and flickering dangerously.

"That's him, that's Lord Shade!" She placed herself between the dark Pokémon and the kids.

"What? This kid?" Kevin's eyebrows rose. He glanced at Kyle.

"Uh— Well, it looks like him—"

"He can change how he looks, remember?" Emmy raised her fists and took on a stance that looked similar to how Vera currently held herself.

"Right, he must be pretending to be younger to trick us," Blue said.

Chikoro scoffed, causing Blue to turn to him. "What? No," Chikoro said. "That's stupid. If he was smart, he'd be trying a bit harder to hide his identity, or else he wouldn't bother at all."

"But—" Blue glared. "No, he's— _We're_ the ones who have actually seen him—"

Kyle put a hand on Blue's shoulder. "Blue, wait. Chikoro has a point."

"But Uncle Kyle…" Blue frowned. Kyle shook his head and gestured towards the shadowlike Pokémon.

He was shrinking back into the water, pupil darting between Vera, Blue, and Emmy in a panic. Blue's glare softened immediately.

"So… it's not him?" Blue said. "But, I thought— The books said that legendary Pokémon are one of a kind."

Vera remained cautious. "Well, maybe this is our world's version of him."

Kyle blinked. That was a detail they'd glossed over in their plans. Did legendaries also have alternate universe selves, with only a few small differences? If so, then warning this world's Cresselia instead of the other one was pointless…

 _"_ _I-I'm going to get Mama…"_ the Pokémon said, weakly, before darting back down into the pond.

The tension in the air thinned, but just as Kyle was about to let out a sigh of relief, he was met with a sudden chill. A cool fog began to roll in, making the surrounding forest appear denser and more foreboding. A quick glance behind him told him that he could no longer see the path out, and a feeling of apprehension crawled inside him again.

"This is Mist," Emmy muttered, folding her arms against her.

Blue nodded. "If you look close, there's a Safeguard, too. Whoever's doing this is very careful."

Kyle considered asking Blue and Emmy to explain what they were talking about, but before he could say anything, a soft, pink glow in the distance caught his eye. The glow grew steadily larger and brighter, eventually revealing a birdlike figure hovering several inches off the ground. After gazing at them for a moment, the figure emerged into the clearing, head held high.

Cresselia looked fairly beautiful in illustrations, but in person, she was breathtaking. Her odd, transparent wings shimmered in the misty air, casting a pink light around her that complimented the soft yellow and blue of the rest of her slender body. Her face, hugged by feathers that grew in crescent shapes, appeared calm and collected, perhaps slightly disapproving with her narrowed eyes. Kyle could see why humans had made a tourist attraction out of her island; getting a glimpse of her was worth the boat fare and then some.

 _"_ _Who are you?"_ Her telepathic voice echoed, and the coldness Kyle felt from the mist lifted.

Blue spoke first. "Milady." He bowed. "We're here to warn you of a planned attack."

Cresselia's facial expression remained neutral. She looked at Blue, sizing him up. _"Oh? What sort of attack would that be?"_

Blue let out an audible breath. "It's… Lord Shade. My dad works for him. He looks like—" Blue glanced at the smaller shadow Pokémon, "—He's the same kind as that. And he's planning on attacking you soon…"

Finishing awkwardly, Blue wrapped his arms around his stomach and looked at the ground. Kyle bit his lip. That level of explanation was right up there with his own "this is my niece and nephew, they came from a dream" ones.

 _"_ _Lord Shade,"_ Cresselia repeated. She tilted her chin upwards to peer down on them. _"You are mistaken. The arrogant man who went by that title died years ago."_

Blue blinked. "Um…"

 _"_ _You are confused,"_ Cresselia flicked her eyes around at each of them, taking them all in. _"Understandable. You are under the impression that that incarnation of Darkrai lives. He does not. This one is proof."_

The small shadow Pokémon emerged from beneath her, keeping close to the underside of her wing. He kept his eye to the ground, refusing to look up.

"He was in another world, if that helps." Vera watched the shadow with caution. "Like, another reality, with different versions of the same people. It was somewhere called the Orréan Desert—"

 _"_ _You continue to misunderstand. Darkrai – the one who calls himself 'Lord Shade' – has been dead since 1990. No matter the dimension you say you saw him in, it is impossible for him to be alive, because this little one exists. And this one would not attack anybody. Isn't that right, dear?"_

He nodded meekly. _"Yes, Mama."_

Blue faltered. "But—"

Cresselia shook her head. _"Thank you for your concern, but I have had Noir in my care since the day he was born. I would know if he were planning to attack me."_

Kevin shrugged and threw his arms behind his head. "Well, we tried, but she won't listen. Guess we're back to square one."

Cresselia turned to him, eyes narrowed. _"Excuse yourself. It is you who will not listen. You're claiming the impossible."_

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, okay, except you didn't ask us to clarify or anything." He brought his hand down to rest on his hips. "Maybe the real Lord Shade or whoever is dead. That doesn't negate the fact that someone who looks like your kid told him—" He gestured to Blue with his thumb, "—that he was planning to attack you. But you don't care, so we won't either. Let's go."

"Kev—" Kyle said.

"What? We tried." Kevin gave him a sour look. "Or do you want to stick around just to be told we're stupid?"

 _"_ _I never said that,"_ Cresselia said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I don't help people like her."

"I don't either, honestly," Vera muttered.

"That doesn't mean she deserves to get attacked!" Kyle said indignantly.

 _"_ _You,"_ Cresselia said suddenly, squinting at them. _"Who are you?"_

"Uh, Kyle the Shade—"

 _"_ _Not you, the other one,"_ Cresselia said.

Kevin frowned. "Kevin Holly. Got a problem with that?"

She darted close to him, staring him in the eyes. _"As a matter of fact, I do. Don't play games. Those eyes reveal everything. You're Nero."_

"Who the hell is Nero?" Kevin said.

 _"_ _It's just like him to mess around from beyond the grave,"_ Cresselia spat. Her voice, previously warm, turned venomous, with contempt dripping from every word. _"He couldn't bear to lose one of his precious toys, so he found a way to immortalize you, didn't he? And now that Noir is old enough—"_

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kevin said, enunciating every word for emphasis. He glanced at Kyle, Blue, and Vera. "Do you?"

"No idea," Kyle said.

 _"_ _Enough of this."_ Cresselia straightened up and turned to the small Pokémon behind her. _"Come, Noir. These people are to be ignored."_

Noir clung to her, and the two of them backed away into the mist, fading away with it as the temperature returned to normal.

Kevin let out a curt breath. " _Well_."

"Calm down," Kyle groaned. "I've spoken to human police less receptive than her. She'll come around eventually."

"Except I don't want to sit here waiting for eventually." Kevin crossed his arms. "If she's just going to keep insulting me and comparing me to whoever this Nero guy is—"

"You mean you don't know? Nero is the name of the mad prince," Vera said.

Kevin frowned. "What mad prince?"

Vera raised an eyebrow. " _The_ mad prince. _Mono-Nero and the Demon Eyes_. You have to have heard of him."

Kevin blinked. "No…" He flicked his eyes to Kyle. "Have you?"

"Uh…" Kyle said.

"It's the story that the whole blue-eyed demon thing originates from," Ero said. "I think it's probably the most well-known story on both mountains aside from the ones about the goddess. Your mother never told it to you?"

Oh, of course. He couldn't forget that.

"She told it once," Kyle mumbled. "Unfortunately for us, the local birds overheard her and started calling us demons, so she never told it again."

"Oh, _that_ one…" Kevin scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, it's been a while. How did it go again?"

Ero nodded. "It's got a lot of different tellings, so whatever truth it may have had has probably been embellished a lot. But it basically goes that a young prince, after the death of his older brother, was comforted through his grief by a strange, blue-eyed traveller. Fast forward a bit and the traveller turns out to be a demon, turns the prince's eyes blue, causes some chaos, and the two get exiled, never to be seen again. That's pretty much it."

"You're freaking kidding me. That is exactly how our parents met." Kevin's arms hung loosely at his sides. Kari chuckled quietly from behind him. "Suddenly, everything makes sense."

"Funny, I was going to say that it's a lot like how Overlord met the other Vera," Vera said.

With a start, Kyle turned to blink at her. "Wait, what? How do you know that?"

"Because he kept telling me about it," Vera said darkly, hugging her arms close to herself again. "He'd go on and on about how he apparently swept her off her feet. I found the resemblance to the mad prince story to be a _little_ unsettling."

"So Lord Shade is the demon, then," Blue said.

Ero coughed, poorly disguising his choked laughter.

"What?" Kyle asked.

"Well, it's just— I always assumed the demon was a girl, but…" Ero shook his head. "It makes a lot more sense if they were exiled for being gay."

Oh.

"That _would_ make sense," Vera mumbled under her breath. "It always did seem like a love story with a bad ending."

"We need better representation," Ero muttered.

"So I look like Lord Shade's ex-boyfriend, and that's why Cresselia got all pissy?" Kevin squinted in disbelief. "I can't even—"

"That's not a bad thing," Kyle interjected. "Just because someone mistakes you for—"

"That's not what I'm offended at!" Kevin whipped around to face Kyle. "Seriously, Ky, the more I find out about this situation, the less inclined I am to take sides. It'd be one thing if this war were black and white, but you're trying to choose sides between a child soldier-raising tyrant and a judgemental, homophobic bi—" He bit his tongue and glared at the kids. " _Bigoted, irritating, totally callous hummingbird_. I really don't want to help either of them. Not now."

Kyle swallowed. "I just think that— In this case, one side is clearly worse, and if we don't stop him, there's no telling what he'll do…"

Kevin stared him down, unreadable. "I know that. Don't worry. I still agreed to help you, didn't I?"

Kyle blinked.

"So." Kevin turned back around in a broad sweeping motion and eyed everyone around him. "Cresselia sucks. Whatever. Lord Shade or Darkrai or whoever can give her what she deserves. Then after that, we'll give him what he deserves. Sound good?"

"What do you mean?" Blue frowned.

"It's simple. When faced with an impossible choice, take a third option." Kevin grinned. "We're on our own side now."

Kyle let out a long breath. "Of course. That's just like you. You wouldn't even take a side during the whole Naturalist debacle."

"Well, yeah." Kevin held out his palms. "One was so anti-human he wanted to kill them all, and the other was you."

Chikoro snorted. "Makes sense to me."

"Right then!" Kevin clapped his hands together. "Glad it's settled. Everyone on Team Holly, let's take it easy and set up camp! We'll call the Pidgeot Express to get us in the morning."

* * *

Kyle wasn't exactly sure _how_ his brother had turned things around so that he was the leader instead, but part of him was silently thankful for it.

Kevin's action plan mostly involved raising everyone's morale by going over potential strategies to fight Lord Shade in extreme detail. After all, they had taken out a portion of his army somehow, despite having been under surprise attack, so imagine what they could do if they were prepared! Chikoro and Roo were obviously into it, but surprisingly, so were all the kids. Kevin liked Emmy's idea of riding on someone's shoulders to give them extra firepower, and told Little that he could try it too next time, much to Kyle's dismay. On top of that, after appraising her skills, Kevin told Little's Pikachu friend that she'd be a useful hidden sniper, firing Thunder Waves at their enemies while remaining unseen.

Kyle was about to say something when Kari stopped him. "Hey, you. Relax. Kevin's a good teacher. They'll be fine."

"You really think they should be this eager to fight?" Kyle's arms were crossed.

"Kyle. They're Pokémon. _We're_ Pokémon. It's in our blood." Kari eyed him pointedly.

"Don't say that. I've been trying to convince humans that's not true for fifteen years." Kyle sighed.

"I think it might be a little bit true," Kari said. "But maybe you're a bit too human, huh?"

Kyle blew a stray hair out of his face. "Maybe."

She laughed and left to join Kevin's growing battle force. Kyle bit his lip and looked around.

Ero and Vera were talking, trading stories from the two mountain clans. Kyle hadn't really thought about it before, but he supposed Ero would find talking to an actual Mount Chimney native pretty interesting, especially one who knew her cultural lore. Stella lay a few feet away from them, her tucked in limbs and drooped ears making it clear that she had taken an early night. He wouldn't have minded joining her, but he was still pretty rattled from everything that had happened lately and didn't think he could relax just yet.

Well then. He supposed he could go for a walk.

Forests were lovely when lit up by firelight at night. The heavy contrast in the grooves of the bark that flickered as he walked past were soothing and nostalgic. They reminded him of his childhood in the woods, and the many nights he couldn't fall asleep where he took to scratching patterns into fallen branches to pass the time.

He hadn't had a night to himself like this in a while, and after the commotion that had occurred today, he definitely needed it. Still, it had been a while since he'd had a long talk with Stella or Ero, too, and part of him wished that one of them wasn't occupied with—

Out of nowhere, Overlord walked into him.

Blinded again by the burning afterimages of a bright green flash, Kyle made a muffled sound of surprise. Overlord, acting like he'd just been singed, stepped back immediately, almost falling over himself in the process. Kyle glanced up, and for a moment, the two of them stared at each other, dumbfounded, before Kyle regained his thought processes and backed himself up a good two feet away.

"What the hell are you—"

"I'm sorry," Overlord said quickly, his wide eyes sunken and red. "I was just— I guess I had a lot on my mind and—"

He paled. Kyle blinked at him as he whipped around and clawed at the air in a fevered, shaky slash, causing the green light behind him to disappear. As soon as the colour dissipated, Overlord's shoulders relaxed, and he let out an audible breath.

"What are you doing here?" Kyle lowered his voice. So much for his relaxing walk.

Overlord turned halfway. His eyes darted from Kyle to the ground a few times before settling on the ground. "Nothing."

"If it's nothing, you can do it somewhere else." Kyle extended an arm to the side and pointed. "Leave."

"I— Of course. Right." Overlord raised his hand. His fingers shuddered and he grabbed them with his left, cursing below his breath. "Just… as soon as I calm down. Then I promise."

Overlord backed himself against a tree and started taking deep breaths. After a second of leaning, he slid down into a seated position, still holding his hand. His eyes focused ahead of him, not even flicking towards Kyle.

"Um…" Kyle crossed his arms with a frown. "Can you… not do that green light thing when you're… not okay?"

Kyle wasn't sure how else to describe him. Overlord had clearly been acting differently the last time they'd met, but this was just downright bizarre. Exactly what had happened to Overlord in the last twelve hours to make him act so weird? Not that he should care for Overlord's wellbeing, but…

…Should he care?

Overlord shut his eyes. "Well, it's just— If I try again, I'll probably just end up walking into you. Again."

"…I see," Kyle lied. "Um. Why?"

"I'm having difficulty… concentrating… on anything else," Overlord admitted.

He finally glanced at Kyle, which must have been a mistake, because Overlord looked away immediately and covered his face.

"Look, it's— It's not important. I won't do anything. I just need to clear my head, and then I'll be gone. Forever."

Kyle stared. "Sorry, what?" He stepped in front of Overlord.

"Y'know, it might be easier to stop thinking about you if you stop talking to me," The corners of Overlord's mouth twitched.

"Yeah, um, no." Kyle crouched down to meet his eye level. "Here I am, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, and you just happen to appear out of thin air and walk into me because you can't stop _thinking_ about me? And, despite our encounter twelve hours ago, you expect me to just trust you not to do anything? Exactly how am I supposed to react to that?"

Overlord blinked. "Well—"

"It's kind of creepy, you know? You, waltzing in and acting like this psychic connection just happened to bring you to the exact spot I was standing. So why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?" Kyle scowled.

Overlord stared. "Do I need a reason?"

Kyle's voice stayed flat. "Kinda."

Overlord pursed his lips, a small breath escaping them. "Well, sorry, but I don't have one. That's just how this _works_." He slashed some green at the air, and some new gashes appeared in front of Kyle's face. They were close enough to his face for him to see tiny purplish streaks among the bright green before Overlord got rid of the light again. "I have to think about where I want to go. If I can't keep my mind clear, I'm stuck until I get over it. So here I am."

Kyle gripped his knees. "Just sitting here? You're really not going to try anything at all?"

The king fixed his gaze on the trees. "Of course not. I'd never—"

He stopped himself, frowning, before turning to Kyle with a weird look in his eye.

"I don't have orders to hurt you, so I won't. It's as simple as that."

Kyle let out a breath. "Right. Until your boss tells you otherwise, that is."

Overlord remained silent.

"I… I'm not going to pretend I fully understand what's going on in that department," Kyle said, chewing the inside of his cheek. The new information he'd gotten about the mad prince made things even more complicated. "But with this magical green light thing you've got going on… Is there really no way for you to get out of this mess?"

Overlord was shaking his head before Kyle even finished his sentence. "No. How can I, when they've got me on a leash? If I try anything they don't like, they'll just pop in and stop me before I can do any damage. It's a miracle they haven't come in now, actually—"

He stopped, hands frozen in the midst of an emphatic gesture. "They're not here." His eyes darted to look at Kyle. "Something's wrong."

Kyle blinked. "Huh?"

"This shouldn't be happening right now. They should have stepped in before you could ask questions, so why— Hold on. What's the date?" Overlord narrowed his eyes.

"Uh… The twenty-sixth— No, wait, the twenty-seventh?" Kyle said, completely lost.

"Of May," Overlord said.

"Yeah." Kyle blinked.

"That's normal," Overlord muttered to himself. He glanced around. "So that leaves the place…"

Kyle suddenly got a sinking feeling in his stomach. If Overlord had truly gotten here by accident, like he claimed, he probably had no idea they were on Fullmoon Island, and it was in Kyle's best interest to keep it that way. "It's just a forest."

"No, no, you don't understand, it has to be important," Overlord rambled. "There are certain places that the lords won't go, so they can keep their plans low-key. If that means I can stay here without them on my back—"

"I thought you were leaving," Kyle said sharply.

"That was before—" Overlord clenched his fists. "Look, I'm sorry. I've done— I'm doing terrible things. I want to leave you alone, and I truly mean that, but if there's even the slightest chance that I can figure out how to salvage everything by staying here a little longer, then I'm going to take it!"

Overlord leaned forward, his eyes locked on Kyle. "I need to know the name of this forest."

Kyle tensed. "It doesn't have one," he said. "You've been here, anyway. It's the same place you fought Blue."

"Is it?" Overlord frowned. He looked around again, slower this time. "There's not a single Mankey or Rattata to be seen."

Damn. Overlord knew more about the Battle Zone's local fauna than Kyle liked. "Yeah, and whose fault is that? You kind of scared everyone off with your blazing trail of destruction earlier."

"And there's also no sign of that trail." Overlord narrowed his eyes. "Tell me where we really are."

 _Damn_. Kyle glared and kept his mouth shut.

"Kyle," Overlord said. "Listen to me. You— You were the one who told me not to give up, right? And— And to be honest, sometimes I really want to, but when there's a glimmer of hope like this one— All I want is for my family to be safe and together again. So if you'd just trust me, and tell me where we are… That can happen, Ky. We… All of us can be… We'll get our lives back."

Kyle bit his lip. "I already have my life back. Blue and Emmy are just getting used to their new ones. And I've already got a brother—"

"Please," Overlord said. "Help me."

Kyle commanded himself to stop thinking about Kevin in the library. He shook his head. "No. Not happening."

"…Fine. But you're only making it worse by not telling me where we are," Overlord's eyes went cold. "Why is it so important that this place be kept a secret? From what I can tell, it _is_ just a forest."

"Right," Kyle said. "That's all."

"But I also wasn't followed here, despite my encounter with you," Overlord continued. "From that, I can assume this is a restricted area."

"Right, so you should leave," Kyle said, knowing it was futile.

"I still got here, though. So it's restricted, but only for them. Not the army." Overlord slowly hoisted himself up, and Kyle reluctantly followed suit.

"I can only think of a few places where we might be." Overlord frowned at him.

Kyle said nothing, and chose to frown back.

"If it's only been twelve hours since we last spoke, I can assume that we must be, at most, twelve hours away from the Battle Zone." Overlord smirked. "I don't see an abundance of flowers, so that narrows the possible locations down to two. So to eliminate the last one…" He looked up.

"There we go. Bright and clear and practically full. The moon." His head snapped back to face Kyle. "We're on Fullmoon Island, aren't we?"

Kyle blinked. "No."

"Why would you be on Fullmoon Island?" Overlord ignored him. "It's not exactly a likely spot for a vacation, when you live on such a nice island to begin with. But I thought the last thing you'd want is to get involved with legendary business." Overlord cocked his head. "Just what are you doing here?"

"I'm not on Fullmoon Island," Kyle said. "I don't even know where that is."

"Kyle," Overlord said firmly. " _Of course_ you know where Fullmoon Island is. It's impossible for you to have lived in Canalave City without knowing about it."

Kyle faltered. "What— Hold on! I thought— I told you about Canalave back in December, and you didn't believe me! And now, all of a sudden—"

"I did some research since we last saw each other," Overlord said. "This world… Well, it _did_ seem a bit different from what I knew. I just never imagined _how_ different. But I went and saw things for myself, and everything adds up. I'm sorry I accused you of having deluded memories."

"I…" Kyle squinted. "What? What do you mean, you saw things for yourself?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Overlord crossed his arms. "Anyway, are you going to tell me why you're here, or are you going to keep making me guess?"

"It's none of your business what I choose to do with my life," Kyle muttered.

"It's definitely my business if it involves legendaries," Overlord said. "Being on Fullmoon implies _some_ involvement, though I can't fathom why—" Horror flickered across his face. "Oh no. You _didn't_."

He narrowed his eyes. "Did you speak to Cresselia?"

Kyle stood his ground. "So what if we did?"

"So what if you— That's the worst possible thing you could have done! Sparking the war so early—" Overlord's jaw clenched shut. He took a deep breath, before continuing, voice steadier. "Kyle. You have absolutely no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

"I have a good enough idea to know that if we hadn't done anything, we'd be sitting ducks," Kyle said. "Is that really any better?"

"Yes!" Overlord threw his hands into the air. "Yes, because then, I might have been able to convince them that you could be left alone! But clearly, you _can't_."

Kyle growled. "Well, gee, when you left earlier, you didn't try telling us that doing nothing would be better." He clenched his fists. "We even told you we were going to do something, and all you did was beg your kids to go home."

"I didn't think you'd come straight here!" Overlord shook his head. "Lord Shade was right. Every day you're allowed to live, you just end up making things worse."

Kyle scoffed. " _Thanks_."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Overlord began to pace. "There's no way out. There's no timeline where I'm happy and everyone's alive—"

"What?" Kyle crossed his arms. "Timeline? What are you—"

"Timelines! Other worlds! Alternate realities! Whatever you want to call them!" Overlord shouted, a brief plume of flames escaping his mouth upon exhaling. "There's no good ending! Nothing where I'm happy, nothing where nobody has to die! And there never will be! No thanks to you, of course!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyle said. "Don't be stupid. There _is_ a world where you're happy and nobody's dead. _This one_."

Overlord stopped in his tracks. "You—"

He blinked, glanced at Kyle, looked away, then cursed under his breath. He stood there, silent, just looking ahead, until finally he spoke again.

"Thank you. You're… I can see why they hate you so much."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Er… right."

"Do me a favour." Overlord suddenly reached into his cloak and pulled out a small coin. "You're clever. Figure this out."

Overlord flicked the coin over to Kyle, who caught it, somehow, between his wrists after he missed with his hands. Overlord's face held a brief flicker of a smirk before he went serious again, staring Kyle down.

"I'll be back." He placed a hand on his hip. "Thank you. Really. Until we meet again." He swiped at the air with his other hand, and the bright green light materialized again. He walked through it, and in a flash, he and the light were gone.

A moment passed, two, three, but Overlord didn't reappear. Kyle scoffed.

"I don't get what's so special about a quarter." He flipped the coin over in his palm.

After a few seconds, he dropped it.


	20. Chapter 20

"He time travels." Kyle placed Overlord's quarter on the ground in front of him.

Kevin picked it up, holding it close to his face to examine it. "Well. I'm not sure what I was expecting."

"What year is it from?" Roo asked.

"2028," Kevin said. "This gets weirder every minute."

"And we're sure it isn't a fake or anything like that?" Kari leaned over Kevin's shoulder to inspect the coin herself.

"I guess that's possible." Kyle frowned.

"No." Vera glared at the quarter, arms crossed. "Lord Chronos, Lady Greenwich – those are time related names. Not to mention the fact that Overlord just appear suddenly. I believe it."

"Chronos and Greenwich? Who are they?" Kari asked, eyeing Vera.

"They're the same person – from what I could tell, they're working with Lord Sha—Darkrai." Vera turned to Kyle. "They were a green fairy with big blue eyes. They seemed to be able to predict the future, wouldn't you say?"

Kyle nodded. "Well, at the very least, he used Future Sight on us."

"That sounds like Celebi," Chikoro said.

"Who?" Kyle asked.

Chikoro scoffed, flipping his leaf. "Seriously? I thought you liked mythology. Celebi's a well-known legendary in Johto. She's supposed to protect forests from harm by whisking threats away to a different time, stuff like that. And she's a green fairy with blue eyes."

"Kyle said he was a he, though," Kevin said.

Vera pursed her lips. "I don't… I don't think they were _either_ , to be honest."

"Mm, I just kind of assumed without thinking. I was a little distracted." Kyle shrugged. "But I think I remember Darkrai calling them 'Cel', so it probably was Celebi. And if Celebi has time travel abilities, then Overlord's story sounds a lot more legitimate to me."

Kevin sighed. "Oh, all right. I'll take the bait. What the hell was Overlord doing in 2028?"

"How are we supposed to know if it hasn't happened yet?" Vera moaned.

"I'm already confused," Roo said.

"Oh, calm down, it doesn't have to be so complicated." Kari stepped out from behind Kevin. She gave Kyle a hard stare. "From what you told us of your conversation, it had been about twelve hours since you last spoke, but he was acting weirdly, asking lots of strange questions, right?"

Kyle nodded. "He didn't know the date, or where we were. He figured it out on his own soon enough, though."

"From that, we can assume that what was twelve hours for you wasn't necessarily twelve hours for him." Kari frowned. "He could have time travelled to 2028 and spent days there, maybe even longer. He could have gone to any time, really, and then come back whenever he wanted."

"I'm still confused," Roo said.

Kari sighed. "If you can time travel, the concept of time doesn't even _mean_ anything to you anymore. You can access any part of your life whenever you want. You could have a date tomorrow and avoid it for fifty years, if you wanted, by travelling to any time _besides_ that day. Does that make sense?"

Roo puffed out his cheek. "Yeah, I get that part, but— Why would this Overlord guy bother to show up _now_? Nothing was happening…"

"It seemed like an accident," Kyle muttered.

Roo shook his head. "No, but, by coming here when nothing was happening, he _made_ something happen, so… What would have happened if he hadn't shown up? Or if he did, but earlier? Before we talked to Cresselia? Or, like—"

"Don't think about that," Chikoro said in a low voice.

"It's bugging me," Roo whined.

"Maybe you can ask him when he comes back," Kyle said, almost laughing. "Look, isn't it kind of useless to sit around wondering how time travel works when all we know is that it exists? Wouldn't it be better to figure out what our next move is?"

Kevin laced his fingers together, propping them under his chin. "You said he called this place restricted… For his bosses, anyway."

"Yeah," Kyle said.

Kevin bit his lip. "Well… In that case, we might be safer staying here than anywhere else. At least for now, that is."

"Makes sense," Chikoro said. "The last thing they'd want to do is attack when Cresselia's on guard."

"But she didn't believe us," Kevin said sourly.

"Overlord doesn't know that," Chikoro said with a smug smile.

Kevin blinked. "True. All right, that settles it. Whether Cresselia likes it or not, we're camping out in this forest. It's not like she _told_ us to go home." He smirked.

"And if she's angry we overstayed our welcome?" Vera said.

"Then we'll deal. It's like I said. We're our own team now, and we'll defend ourselves if we have to. Sound good, everybody?"

He looked at Kyle in particular. Kyle shrugged.

"Sounds good, Boss."

"Good," Kevin said. "Then I think it's best if we all tuck in, for now. We'll want to be prepared for tomorrow, whatever happens."

* * *

To nobody's surprise, Kyle was having sleeping problems again. At least this time, his issues were of the more mundane variety. The more he tried to fall asleep, the more anxiety clawed at his mind to keep him awake. Overlord was a time traveller. He could appear at any time, in any place. With power like that… Well. Kyle wasn't sure how Overlord hadn't already gotten what he wanted.

Kyle shifted his position, feeling the grooves of the tree bark behind his back. Just what was Overlord planning to do next? He said he'd be back, but he didn't say when, and like Kari said, it wasn't exactly hard to keep appointments if you could time travel. And when he did come back, if ever, what exactly was he going to do? It didn't seem like he wanted to fight them, not really…

"Can't sleep?"

Kyle jumped; he was so deep in thought that he didn't notice anyone approach. His eyes darted up, and he saw, bathed in both moon and firelight, the familiar form of—

"Vera," Kyle said, blinking. "Um…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Vera smiled apologetically. "I just… Well, you're awake, and I'm awake, so I thought we could use each other's company."

Oh. Well. He supposed that was all right.

"Sure," he said, slowly, watching her sit herself down.

"Thanks." She flashed him a quick smile and stretched her arms out before slumping back on them. "Actually… I've been meaning to ask something."

Kyle tensed. "Oh yeah?"

She nodded. "About Overlord."

Kyle's shoulders immediately loosened. "Okay. Shoot."

Vera sighed and bit her lip. "You probably can't really tell me, but… I don't know, I figured you were the best person to ask. Blue and Emmy didn't give me the best answer." She frowned. "I just want to know… Why me?"

"Huh?" Kyle said.

"It just seems like one big contrived coincidence." She frowned at the moon. "I mean, I can understand how you would be involved. You're the Shade! You actually matter. But I'm not special, I— He went on and on about how weak it was to be sentimental, so why would he care so much about me?"

Hoo boy. Kyle took a breath. "Out of curiosity, what _did_ Blue and Emmy tell you?"

"Something about Chronos predicting the best match." Her face curled in disgust. "Not romantically or anything. Genetics-wise. Blue says he inherited his strength from me, but that doesn't make any sense."

"You were the one who said you could fight," Kyle pointed out. Vera shook her head.

"That's not… I don't _like_ it, my dad just…" she mumbled.

"Blue doesn't like it all that much either," Kyle said.

She shuddered. "It's so gross, what they were doing in that castle. Raising kids with good physical attributes into war machines. Those army Pokémon never knew anything else." She folded her arms. "Maybe… Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I don't think we were meant for fighting. Not like that, anyway."

"I agree with you completely. People are so much more than that," Kyle said.

Vera smiled. "People, huh?"

"People." Kyle nodded firmly. "But to answer your first question…"

Vera let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, sorry."

"Honestly?" Kyle blew a stray hair out of his face, "I think he loves you, that's all. I don't know how he met you in his world, but whatever happened, it must have really made an impression on him."

"But… Your brother… This world's version of him, he _hates_ me—"

Kyle scoffed. "Overlord and Kevin are two _very_ different people. And I think the circumstances you met them under might have had something to do with what they think of you."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I guess."

She let out a long breath, shifting her position on the ground. "Do you think… Somewhere out there, there's another world, where everything turns out all right for us? For me and you and Kevin, I mean."

Kyle shrugged. "It's possible. We've already seen proof of one alternate world, so there's no reason there couldn't be others."

"I hope you're right," Vera said. "I don't think anyone deserves this."

Kyle blinked. "Well— It's not so bad, really—"

She shook her head with a knowing smile. "Maybe you're dealing all right, but not all of us are."

Yikes. That set off warning signs that Kyle didn't know the procedures for. "Um… If you need to talk…" Something weird prickled in Kyle's stomach. "Ero's really good at that. A lot better than me, for sure. He's been through a lot, too, so…"

"Ero, huh?" Vera shifted around. "He talked to me earlier. All he did was ask about old stories from the mountain."

"If you ask him to listen, he will," Kyle said. "I promise."

"Okay." She picked herself up. She stretched her arms out again, hesitating before looking back at him.

"Thanks for not hating me." She bit her lip and walked away, arms tightly wrapped around herself.

Kyle let out a breath as he watched her leave.

 _You're welcome._

* * *

"There you are. Don't struggle."

Kyle groaned. He could handle paparazzi. He could handle public speaking in front of enormous crowds. He could _not_ handle people interrupting his sleep every few hours. Poor sleep reminded him of horrible, yellow jail cells boiling him alive, and that was a feeling he'd rather keep far, far away from the forefront of his mind.

Kyle opened a bleary eye and grumbled. "What now?" he said with the croak of a dry throat. Well, at least he'd gotten _some_ sleep, even if he didn't feel like it.

"Paradox police. I'm afraid you'll have to come with me." A large green Pokémon with a low, honeyed voice stood before him. It sounded somewhat familiar, but Kyle couldn't place it.

"I… Wait." Kyle rubbed his eyes and stared at the speaker, blinking in confusion. "Who're—"

"Traveller number one of the Agate Division," the large Pokémon said cleanly, cutting Kyle off. He was a large, light green reptile, with rich golden eyes and antennae, and pink flower petals framing the base of his long neck. A Meganium, if he remembered correctly.

A Meganium. The Pokémon who had apparently retrieved Overlord's army after he had gone. The Pokémon who also happened to be the final evolution of Chikorita.

Chikorita…

Kyle's stomach sunk.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Kyle stood up with a stagger. His vision went foggy as the sensation of light-headedness overtook him. Damn it, he did _not_ need this right now.

"Like you can do anything about it," the Meganium said, trying not to laugh. "Look, I'd rather we not fight. Last time was annoying enough."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Last time—"

He was interrupted by sturdy vines wrapping themselves around his limbs. Before he could do more than let out more than a cry of surprise, he was being yanked away through a flash of orange and swirling lights—

And then they stopped, smack in the middle of a verdant green forest with an old, weathered stone shrine. Atop the formation of rocks was a small, green fairy, wings flittering impatiently.

 _"_ _He struggled, didn't he?"_ Celebi said. _"Figures."_

"Not really, actually," the Meganium said. "I stopped him before he could."

 _"_ _Thank you, Chikoro,"_ Celebi said.

The evolved Chikoro released his grip. Kyle's head was still reeling, but he stood up as best he could and looked Celebi in the eye.

"Whatever this is, you—"

 _"_ _Shut up,"_ Celebi said. _"This isn't about you."_

"What?" Kyle said.

"You're bait," Chikoro supplied.

" _What_?" Kyle repeated.

There was a whirlwind of green, and Overlord appeared, tail flame burning furiously. He took one glance at Kyle and his tail flame flared even brighter.

"Lord Chronos," Overlord snarled, "what the hell are you—"

 _"_ _So nice of you to join us, Overlord of the Orréan Deserts,"_ Celebi said. _"Tell me. Did you really think this was going to work?"_

Overlord growled. "Think _what_ was going to work?"

 _"_ _Oh, I don't know. Sharing information pertinent to your occupation, leading this one to learn things he has no business sticking his nose in? Really. He can't be left alone now. We've told you this."_ Celebi raised an eyebrow.

"He's fine as long as he doesn't do anything. You can leave him alone." Overlord stared Celebi down.

 _"_ _But he_ _will_ _do something. He already has."_ Celebi turned to Kyle, giving him a disapproving glare. _"Forewarning Cresselia is an inconvenience, but not something we can't work around. Convincing you his dimension will give you the ending you want – Well, that's something we can't allow."_

Kyle frowned. "Wait— So I—"

Overlord swallowed. "He was just being himself. It was my fault I took those words to heart—"

Celebi laughed. _"Ha! Well, I suppose that's your fault, yes, but that doesn't excuse his behaviour. No, look. This ends now."_

Overlord paled. "Wait a minute. Lord Shade hasn't— You can't—"

 _"_ _I do what I want,"_ Celebi said. _"Chikoro, hold them both steady."_

One of Chikoro's vines snaked around Kyle's arm again, the other grabbing at Overlord. Smirking in satisfaction, Celebi made a quick wrist movement and conjured a small blue portal. Slipping a hand inside, they pulled out a dagger, the weapon much larger and more dangerous looking in their tiny hands.

"No," Overlord said. "No, no, no—"

 _"_ _Sorry, but you've run out of strikes,"_ Celebi said.

" _No_. I won't let you—!"

There was a burst of flames, not unlike Blue's Overheat move, and Kyle felt Chikoro recoil from him, cursing in pain. Kyle squeezed his eyes shut; the sudden force had stung. He felt Overlord grab at his wrist and pull him away from the large grass type, dragging him into more swirls of colour. Kyle opened his eyes a sliver, trying to see what was happening.

"I'm so sorry." Overlord was short of breath as he slashed in front of him, guiding them through so many different towns and forests and mountains that Kyle could barely register them all, let alone keep himself from tripping. "I didn't think— I thought they'd punish me, not you…"

Trying his hardest not to puke, Kyle said, "I don't even know what's going on! I tell you there's a way you can be happy, and now they want to kill me?!"

"Lord Chronos has always liked you better dead." Overlord led him through some stone ruins and a crowd of people before a short trek through some sort of factory. He darted behind some broken machinery before slicing at the air again and pulling Kyle through another portal.

"They could've killed me in my sleep! Why didn't they just do that?" Kyle said, the irrational part of him desperately trying to wake up and tell him that this was all really a nightmare.

"They wanted me to see it," Overlord said through his teeth. He growled. "On second thought, they probably _were_ trying to punish me."

Kyle blinked. To say he was confused would be putting it lightly. Overlord pulled him through several more random locations before coming to a stop on a cold, frozen beach.

"I think we lost them," Overlord said, but before he had even finished his sentence the air ripped open and out lurched the evolved Chikoro, vines fully healed.

"You can't run from a time traveller!" Chikoro shouted.

Overlord swore and made a portal with his tail, pulling Kyle backwards through it with him. They fell for a second or two before emerging on the other side in front of an old abandoned toolshed. Overlord broke the door open with ease. Once inside, he began to draw green circles everywhere, until there were dozens floating in two-dimensional space around them. Overlord motioned to one portal in particular that he had drawn in the corner and led Kyle through it, finally catching his breath once they had made it to the other side – a sombre clearing in the middle of a gray, foggy forest.

"That should buy us enough time," he said, panting. He wiped some sweat off his face. "Lord Chronos hates orphaned portals like that. Now, this should be…"

Overlord waved a hand through the air, and an enormous blue and black whirlpool of continuously swirling colour appeared in front of them. Kyle gaped.

"What's—"

"A dimensional hole," Overlord said. "It should confuse them for now."

And without missing a beat, Overlord dragged him through yet another swirling mass of colour.

"A _dimensional_ — Wait just a second! You can't just—"

But he just had, and they had already gone through, and by the time Kyle had collected himself the hole had already closed itself behind them.

"We should be safe here, for a while." Overlord finally released his grip on Kyle's arm.

Kyle pulled his arm back and massaged his wrist, frowning. They were back in Overlord's desert castle, it seemed, in the red and gold parlour room he had first dreamed of all those months ago. It was dusty, and definitely in a state of disarray since he had last set foot inside it, but it was still recognizable with its ornate furniture and elegant red drapery. Kyle had thought he was done with this place. He supposed the universe had other plans.

"Isn't this the first place they'd look for us?" Kyle muttered. He slid his hand against the golden arm of a chair.

"Maybe. But it's not the first _time_ ," Overlord said. "We're a few years into the future. Plus, the dimensional hole should mask—"

Kyle groaned. "Great. That's great. So when do I get to go back?"

Overlord took an audible breath. "That's… to be determined."

Kyle's throat stuck. "What— No. No, you do _not_ get to do this again. I'm grateful for your help, but this needs to stop."

"What do you want me to do, Kyle?" Overlord bared his fangs. He plopped himself down into another armchair with a huff and crossed his arms. "If I take you back to your time, they'll just kidnap you again! Lord Chronos wants you dead."

"I noticed," Kyle said. "Look… Kevin and I, we had a discussion. We made the decision to fight Celebi and Darkrai as our own third party. All of us. The next time they show up, we'll be ready for it."

"No you won't," Overlord stressed, eyeing Kyle wearily. "Listen to me. Did Lord Chronos pick a moment to kidnap you when your brother could come to your rescue? Of course not! What makes you think they would ever make that kind of beginner's mistake? Lord Chronos has the ability to foresee the absolute best opportunities, and I guarantee that they'll use that to their advantage to capture you."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "So where does that leave me then? Am I just supposed to spend the rest of my days here with you?"

"No, I— Well, maybe—" Overlord shook his head. "I'm working on that, all right? So for the time being…"

"Absolutely not." Kyle wasn't in the mood for being pushed around. "I'm already sick and tired of this. Take me home. Right now."

Overlord's fists clenched at his sides. "Did you even listen to a word I said? I can't do that without—"

Kyle marched up to him and grabbed the clasp of Overlord's cloak, pulling him out of his seat. "Did you listen to a word _I_ said? Take me back. Now."

Overlord wrenched himself free with a light snarl. "Fine," he said. "We'll go back. Here."

He waved his arm out in a wide arc, creating one of the green portals that Kyle was begrudgingly beginning to be familiar with. Kyle eyed it, suspicious.

"After you." Overlord bowed sarcastically, his arms pointed towards the portal.

Kyle shot him an irritated look and stomped his way through the green lights, now somewhat used to the whirlwind sensations that accompanied them. He emerged on the other side of the portal, which was right in the middle of his front yard at Headquarters. Overlord emerged close behind, slashing the portal shut behind him.

"HQ, huh?" Kyle said. "Everyone's still on Fullmoon."

"I just took you where you asked," Overlord said sharply.

" _I_ just meant my own universe or whatever, but fine," Kyle said. "I'll call the Pidgeot Express."

He proceeded down the entrance tunnel, noting with a flicker of irritation that Overlord was still following him. He reached the bottom and stopped in his tracks. The door was gone. It just wasn't _there_.

"It's caved in." Kyle stared at the rock wall in front of him. "No, wait, it's…"

"Untouched," Overlord said. We're in my dimension. You never came to this place."

Kyle bit his tongue and whipped around. "What kind of stupid joke is this? When I said home, I meant _home_. _My_ world, not the same place but in yours. How hard is that to understand?"

"How hard is it for you to understand the danger that would put you in?" Overlord snapped back in retaliation. "If I take you back to your dimension, I might as well be leading you to your grave. I'm not letting that happen. Not ever."

Kyle sighed in frustration, making his way back up the entrance tunnel. "Isn't there some way to mess with things using time travel and make it so we're guaranteed to win?"

"They definitely would have prepared for that," Overlord said. "Lord Chronos isn't the type to plan something without going over everything in minute detail."

"We beat them at your castle," Kyle pointed out.

"They weren't predicting every possible outcome that time. You caught them completely off guard," Overlord said with a frown. "This is different. They're the ones trying to attack _you_."

"Why are you such a defeatist?" Kyle raised his arms in the air. "Seriously. Could you stop throwing worst case scenarios my way and start coming up with more positive ones?"

"I'm just being realistic," Overlord said through pursed lips.

Kyle scoffed. "That's what cynics say when they don't want to admit their cynicism. Come on. Best case. What'll happen if we go back and ambush them?"

Overlord kept quiet. Kyle groaned.

"Come on! Just think about it! I was caught off guard, yeah, but by two grass types. You handled them easily with a single hit. On top of that, from the sounds of it, Celebi is going against Darkrai's orders or something, right?"

Overlord twitched. "Yes, but—"

"But what? Are you really going to tell me that was the best opportunity for them to kill me?" Kyle bit his cheek and began pacing. "I really don't think they were trying to do that. Right before you showed up, they said I was bait. Meaning they wanted you to show up, and probably wanted you to 'save' me."

"What good would that do?" Overlord asked.

"It makes a good distraction," Kyle muttered. He stopped, crossing his arms. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

Overlord stared at him, mouth thin. "All right, Kyle. I'm listening."

Kyle swallowed. "I really think we should go back to my world, my time. Just in case."

Overlord let out a short sigh, but nodded anyway. "Right. Let me check, first. Just in case."

He made a new portal and looked back at Kyle, making sure he stayed put. When Kyle didn't move, Overlord walked through the portal, backtracking almost immediately before lashing at the green light, making it disappear.

"What?" Kyle said, suddenly alert. "What was there?"

"Nothing." Overlord paled.

"You're a horrible liar." Kyle walked up to Overlord and glared at him. "If there's really nothing, then you can take me back."

"Of course." Overlord attempted a smile. "Yes. Right. Um, I just need to… take care of an errand—"

Kyle grabbed Overlord's arm. "If you won't do it, I will." Kyle turned his glare to the empty air beside him and clicked his tongue. "You just have to think about it, right? And it'll work?"

"It won't work for you—" Overlord said, but Kyle moved their arms and managed to make a sloppy-looking circle anyway. A few violent purple streaks swirled within the green light. Overlord stared ahead, paling even more.

"Shall we?" Kyle dropped Overlord's arm.

"Ky, you really shouldn't… Not now…" Overlord whispered. Kyle ignored him and walked through the green light, unfazed.

…Until he reached the other side.

The clearing was quiet enough to hear the wind rustle the grass, but the grass wasn't rustling. It was matted down, soaked in various blotches of red, with dirt and mud kicked up all over. There was something on the ground a few feet ahead, and against his better judgement, Kyle moved forward to see it better.

A bunch of severed tails, some the familiar long and orange shape of a Monferno, others different but still recognizably belonging to Pokémon he knew – all of them were laid out by the shore of the pond, arranged carefully among the bloodstains to form a cursive message.

 _Your move, Kevin._


	21. Chapter 21

"I can fix it." Overlord grabbed Kyle's shoulder. "I promise, I can— Right now, I'll take you with me. Come on."

Kyle let Overlord pull him back through the portal, shaking all the way. Sick. He was going to be sick.

He was sick. He threw up.

"Hey, hey…" Overlord rubbed his back. Overlord shut the portal, quickly making a new one on the ground to get rid of the bile. "It's okay. We'll go back to before that happened and stop it."

Kyle nodded, feeling the tears coming. "Please," he choked out.

Overlord rubbed Kyle's back for a moment more before standing him up. Overlord took a deep breath, eyes closed, and flicked his wrist out, carving a new portal faster than Kyle had ever seen him make one before. Overlord walked Kyle through it, acting as a support. It took all Kyle had in him to support even a little of his own weight.

Cresselia's pond clearing was once again green and free of blood. Kyle let out a breath, legs giving out as he fell to the ground. He was going to have nightmares about that scene for months.

Overlord sat down beside him, biting his lip. "I'm sorry you saw that."

Kyle's first instinct was to say it was okay, even though it really wasn't. "Why did— their tails—"

"Lord Chronos has a cruel streak," Overlord said simply. Kyle nodded. He remembered the first conversation he was witness to, where Celebi tried to convince Blue to stab him and Vera. He shuddered.

"Anyway…" Overlord seemed aware of Kyle's discomfort. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I won't let them touch you or anyone you care about from now—"

Overlord was cut off by a left hook to the face, courtesy of one Kevin Holly who was approximately ten years younger. Kyle fell back in a panic, looking up to see his brother's seething face and clenched fist.

"Where the hell do you get off kidnapping Kyle like that?" Kevin grabbed Kyle by the collar of his sweater and dragged him to his side. Kyle coughed from the sudden air loss.

"I wasn't the one who kidnapped him," Overlord seethed, picking himself up and getting into a fighting stance.

"Like hell—"

"Okay, okay!" Kyle shouted, standing up between them. He tried to ignore the rush to his head again, and his weak knees, and the nausea that was still tickling at the back of his throat. "Everybody calm down!"

"Ky, you look awful, what happened?" Kevin pulled him away from Overlord.

"I— It's fine, really." Kyle took another breath. "I… I did a lot of running."

That much was true, but Kevin wasn't satisfied. "Oh yeah? Running from this guy, I'll bet." He turned to glare at Overlord.

"No! I wasn't!" Kyle huffed. "Listen. Celebi sent an evolved Chikoro to kidnap me and then—"

" _Chikoro_?!" Kevin repeated, his eyebrows shooting to the sky.

"Yes! And then Overlord showed up—"

" _Overlord_?!" The king of the Orréan deserts tensed. "That's not my—"

"I can't call you both Kevin!" Kyle let out a breath of exasperation. "But anyway—"

"You can certainly call us both Kevin!" Overlord said testily. "That's my name, so—"

"Can we get back to the part where you said _Chicky_ of all people kidnapped you?" Kevin said.

"What does that matter?" Overlord grumbled. "I—"

"SHUT UP!" Kyle shouted. His throat stung, but he didn't care. "Can you – both of you – stop interrupting for one second and let me finish?"

Kevin looked affronted, but he kept his mouth shut. Overlord crossed his arms and hummed a noise of displeasure, but remained silent after that. Kyle sighed.

"Thank you. Now then—"

"What's going on?" Stella ran into the small clearing, wide eyed. "Oh! Boss, get away from him!"

"No, Stell, it's—" Kyle breathed. "He's not—"

"Everyone! Overlord showed up again!" Stella shouted behind her.

The others ran in one by one from the trees in various states of panic and shock. Kari took one look at Overlord and shot a Leaf Storm at his face, to which Overlord responded with a plume of flames to burn them before they could hit their target. Kevin's fists ignited and he rounded on Overlord again, starting another fistfight.

"Stop it!" Kyle darted between them again, catching Kevin's arms before he could bruise Overlord too much. "Everyone, relax! He _helped_ me!"

* * *

"It's a trick, Kyle. He's tricked you into trusting him."

"I saw it with my own eyes—"

"His boss is a master of illusions! How do you even know what you saw was real?"

Kyle bit his tongue. He felt like he was in a wrestling ring with Kari, with everyone else as the fans cheering for his demise. A few feet behind him, Overlord was leaning against a tree, obviously trying to keep up an act of stoicism, though he frowned at every accusation hurled his way. Kari shook her head and continued.

"Just think about it. If he really wanted to 'save' you, shouldn't he have stopped you from seeing something so horrible in the first place?" Kari glared intently.

Before Kyle could respond, Overlord spat out a flame. "That would have involved erasing my past self. I prefer to avoid that when possible."

Kari eyed him. "'Erasing your past self', huh? And how does _that_ work? Honestly. Listen to him, Kyle. Are you really going to tell me he's not making it all up?"

Overlord flicked his tail. "Do you need proof?"

Kari laughed. "That'd be great, actually!"

Overlord got up and stretched. For a moment there was nothing but anticipation as he stood there. Suddenly a portal appeared and a second Overlord emerged, grabbing the first one. He made a new portal with his free hand and threw the first Overlord into it, closing both of them with a slice. The second Overlord let out a heavy breath and turned to Kari.

"There you go. Past me, dead, all to prove a point. I hope you're satisfied." He leaned back against the tree again, hands shaking.

Kari hesitated, but quickly recovered. "What? Didn't you just throw him into a different time?"

" _No_ ," Overlord said. His body went stiff. "That was a portal to nowhere. He doesn't exist anymore. End of story."

Kari sucked in a breath. "All we have to go on for that is your word—"

"Kari," Kevin said, fixated on Overlord. "Stop it."

Kari grumbled, but didn't argue, surprisingly enough. Kyle felt his muscles relax, realizing they had been tense.

"I like her better as a servant," Overlord muttered under his breath. Only Kyle heard him.

"All right. Let's say we believe you, for now." Kevin was still staring at Overlord. "We appreciate you helping Kyle when he needed it. Thing is, he's fine now, so we don't need your help anymore. Got it?"

Overlord frowned. "I see. So that's how it is."

"It's kind of your fault that's how it is." Kevin gestured to Vera, Blue, and Emmy, who were all watching the conversation from afar. "There are a few people who are kinda bothered by your presence. If you really want to help us out, you'll leave us alone."

Kyle stepped in. "Kev, I get it, everyone's uneasy. But Overlord's a time traveller—"

"Overlord's also an overlord, or you wouldn't be calling him that," Kevin pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "He terrorized you too, remember?"

Kyle opened his mouth. "Yeah, but—"

"I'm only here to do Kyle a favour," Overlord said. "After that, I'll leave."

" _Sure_ ," Kevin said. "Just like you left the last couple times, right?"

"Do you _want_ to get your tail cut off?" Overlord snapped.

"Is that a threat?" Kevin said. His tail flame blazed.

Overlord's face hardened. "It's a warning. But I suppose you're like Cresselia, and you're just being too stubborn to believe it."

The noise Kevin made in response to Overlord's jab was low and dangerous. Overlord shook his head and pivoted on his heel, making his way into the forest. The flame on Kevin's tail calmed down.

"I can't believe you want us to work with him, Ky," Kevin said, but Kyle had already begun following Overlord through the trees.

* * *

Kyle found Overlord sulking with his back against the bark of a pine tree and his cloak discarded on the ground. Putting on his best reassuring smile, Kyle walked over to him.

"Hey," Kyle said.

Overlord grunted in acknowledgement.

"If it's any consolation, you're almost indistinguishable from my brother right now," Kyle said.

He gave Kyle a hard look. "But we're still separate people, and there's nothing I can do to change that, is there?"

Kyle bit his lip. "Well… no," he said. "You can look like Kevin, and I could call you Kevin, but you'll always be a different person to me. I'm sorry."

Overlord let out a long breath, and the two of them stood there for a moment in silence. Then, Overlord spoke.

"Have you ever wondered if parts of your life were decided by fate?" Overlord said, his voice going quiet.

"What?" Kyle said, blinking. Where had this come from? "I… Well, in passing, maybe, but doesn't everyone?"

Overlord turned to Kyle, his face oddly sympathetic. "For the most part, we have free will. But for the bigger things, the decisions that could change everything… that's decided by someone else."

"Who?" Kyle's eyebrows furrowed.

Overlord took a breath. "Arceus."

Kyle blinked. The way Overlord said the name was different than he'd heard Kevin say it – Overlord's pronunciation was longer, with a softer take on the e, almost like it was accented. It was strange to see Overlord speaking of Arceus so seriously; after all, Kevin would often openly mock the idea of his very existence. The look in Overlord's eyes, however, told Kyle that Overlord believed Arceus to be very, very real.

"Is that what Darkrai told you?" Kyle said, voice low.

Overlord shook his head. "It's true. The dimensions – what you call 'your world' and 'my world' and such – they're all the same, up to a point. Little things are different, though. Cities in Unova are high tech in one and old and rustic in another. These two groups, Aqua and Magma, have their roles as heroes and villains reversed, except in one where they're _both_ villains. But in terms of what matters to us? About twenty-five years ago, they diverge."

Kyle opened his mouth to say something, but Overlord continued.

"Don't you wonder why our lives are so different, and yet the histories of our dimensions remain the same? I went back and checked myself, Ky, there's nothing different between the three dimensions in regards to our family until a little after we were born. But then things start changing. For— For some reason, we're the variables. Just playthings for Arceus to decide which possible timeline is the best. And eventually, the best timeline will overwrite the others, and the cycle will begin again."

Overlord's face scrunched up. "I have a theory. I think…. I think my dimension is the one Arceus will choose."

Kyle let out a long breath. "Okay… That doesn't mean—"

"We— That is, you." Overlord bit his lip. "You stir up the status quo. You create changes that couldn't possibly be considered minor. If Arceus decides that your world isn't worth dealing with, well… There's nothing I can do to change that, is there? Even with the powers I have."

"That's… No, come on," Kyle said. "Now you're just giving up. You've gotta fight for change if you want it to happen. I know that better than anyone."

"I've fought for a long, long time, and never won," Overlord said wearily.

"You got an unlucky hand in life," Kyle said, "but so long as you keep playing, you're bound to get a good one eventually!"

"That's a gambler's fallacy," Overlord said.

"Quit being so negative!" Kyle threw his arms into the air. "The point is, you helped me, so I'm going to help you too, okay?"

Overlord scoffed. "You really think you can beat God?"

"If we can beat a time travelling cheater-at-life like Celebi, I'm willing to bet we stand a chance!" Kyle glared.

Overlord blinked. He stared for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"What?" Kyle frowned.

"Nothing." Overlord smiled. "You just sound a lot like my little brother right now, that's all."

Oh. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Kyle crossed his arms. "That so?"

"It is." Overlord's smile turned sad. "But you're not really him, and I should accept that. Maybe I should give you a different name, too, and stop with all this 'Ky' business."

Kyle shrugged. "If that would make you feel better about it, go ahead."

Overlord blinked, puffing out his cheek. "…See, that was supposed to make you understand how I feel about being called Overlord, but you had to go and be too nice for your own good. Never mind. You _are_ Ky."

Kyle laughed. "Oh. Sorry."

"I missed this," Overlord said suddenly, taking a breath. "I'm enjoying having a real conversation again instead of fighting every five seconds. I don't care if everyone else is against me. For the first time, it really feels like I've got my brother back. Even though just an hour ago, you hated my guts."

"Well—" Kyle choked on his words. "I just— You've been a lot better…?"

"I'm trying to be," Overlord said. "I'm glad that much has changed."

"Now we're talking," Kyle said. "Positive thoughts!"

"Too bad the peace will only last six more hours," Overlord said, deadpan.

Kyle bit his lip. "You were so close." He pinched his index finger and thumb together.

"I mean it. That's when Lord Chronos will attack. Six hours from now." Overlord narrowed his eyes. "That timeframe isn't an issue for me, of course, but it'll be hard to prepare everyone else."

"We'll manage," Kyle said. "What do we need?"

Overlord blinked. "We?"

"Yeah. We." Kyle took a breath. "I still don't trust you enough to leave you alone with the kids or anything, but I'm not stupid." At least, Kyle sincerely hoped he wasn't. "If we're going to beat whatever those legendaries are throwing at us, we need your help."

Overlord stared. "I… Right. Of course." His arms crossed tighter.

"Right. So," Kyle said, nodding. "We've got a bunch of good people on our side who are willing to fight. What else do we need?"

"We need an army." Overlord stared intently at the ground. "You have a good start, but we need a lot more if we're going to overcome the lords' forces. Are there any more people you can trust?"

Kyle grimaced. "Not… really," he said, twisting his face in thought. "I mean, I guess there's Mom and Dad, but they're not exactly in good condition to be fighting."

"Not now," Overlord said, "but what about twenty or thirty years ago?"

Kyle blinked. "Uh… I know what you're thinking," Kyle said, "but if we brought our parents here from the past, wouldn't we fade out of existence or something?"

Overlord shook his head. "No, it doesn't work that way with portals. As long as we keep the link to the past open, the dimension will correct itself to keep the timeline the same as it was before, or at least as close as it can get. Admittedly, I've never experimented with a timeline as volatile as this, but…"

"But if it's life or death, we may as well take the risk," Kyle said. Overlord nodded. "All right. Past Mom and Dad. Um. I guess Uncle Nick and Aunt Lily could work, too, then."

"Permitting they agree to help. The other idea I had, and you probably won't like this, is to turn to the future," Overlord said.

Kyle frowned. "Why wouldn't I like it?"

"I… I was thinking we could employ the help of any future children who are willing. That is to say, an older Blue and Emmy, and any others who may exist."

Kyle's eyes widened. "Oh. I don't see a _huge_ problem with that—"

"If we win, their future is guaranteed to change, and they'll be cut off from their timeline permanently," Overlord said. "Not to mention the fact that if that happens, there will be two versions of them in one timeline. That's sure to cause problems."

Kyle took a breath. "Well… That's their decision."

Overlord nodded. "Exactly."

Kyle sighed. "I'll stay out of it, if that's what you're concerned about."

"Good," Overlord said. "As for me, I may have a couple people I can ask to assist us."

"Really?" Kyle's eyes widened.

"Possibly." Overlord picked up his cloak and cast it around his shoulders. He fastened the silver clip. "We'll see."

"It's something to go on, anyway," Kyle said.

"You're right," Overlord said with a smile. "Thank you, Ky."

"No problem," Kyle said. "Anytime."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Kevin said. "You and Overlord just decided to run off and make a plan all by yourselves, without consulting any of us?"

Kevin had confronted him when he returned to the clearing, much to Kyle's dismay. They had just done this, damn it, they didn't need to repeat it. At least now they were alone.

"He knows what he's doing," Kyle said. "You don't."

Kevin sighed. "I hate this."

"I know, but—"

"I hate this! Every time we have a conversation where we try to make up, you have to go and do something to make me angry again! Ky…" Kevin shook his head. "Seriously, we had a plan too, remember? We're fighting on our own terms, against anyone who decides to fight us. So what's so much better about Overlord's plan that makes mine seem stupid?"

Kyle's breath hitched. "It… it's not stupid. Look. Overlord basically said we need more people. His plan was building on yours."

"Okay." Kevin flicked his tail. "Where exactly is he planning on getting these other people, huh?"

"From… other times," Kyle said.

"What?!" Kevin's hands fell loosely at his sides. "You've gotta be kidding me. And you're just going to go with that?"

Kyle sighed. "Yeah, I am. If that's what it takes to keep everyone in this time safe."

"Just how much danger do you think—"

"You didn't see the blood," Kyle said, cutting him off.

Kevin remained silent for a moment, his eyes focused on Kyle's. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he broke eye contact, grunting.

"All right." Kevin puffed out a cheek. " _All right_ , all right. Whatever happened must have been traumatic."

"It _was_." Kyle narrowed his eyes.

"Relax, I believe that what you saw affected you." _Whether or not it actually happened_ , Kyle heard unvoiced. Kevin put his hands on his hips. "But like… more people? That's a real basic strategy our supposed lord general's come up with. I mean, Little could have thought of that idea."

"If I recall, your strategy's been stuck at 'fight back' since last night," Kyle said sourly.

Kevin sighed. "No, it hasn't. You just haven't been around for the strategizing. I've talked to Kari, the kids – Vera, even – I've looked at our strengths and weaknesses and figured out the best course of action for everyone. The only reason you haven't heard about it is because you've been off brooding or chasing Overlord."

Kyle's face fell. "W-well, okay. But even so, in the future I saw, you lost. Overlord and I are just trying to prevent that."

Kevin bit his cheek. "Fine… So he thinks the key to a good future is guys from other times dropping in to help out?"

Kyle nodded. "Something like that."

"Who exactly is he calling on?" Kevin said. "I can't imagine that army of his will be up for tag-teaming."

"He said he had a couple friends, but it was mostly going to be family members from our past and future, like Mom and Dad and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kevin interrupted. "Our _parents_?! Isn't that the worst idea ever?"

"He said he could make it work without screwing up our lives!" Kyle groaned. "Look, chill out, okay? I know it's weird, but—"

"Weird is _not_ the word I would use," Kevin said.

Kyle's hands fell to his sides. "Whatever. Point is, this is life and death, so we've got to do what we have to do to survive. And if that means screwing around with time, so be it!"

Kevin brought a hand to his mouth, deep in thought. He stood, breathing steadily, tail swishing irregularly. Finally, he pulled his hand away and gave Kyle a long, weary look.

"Life and death, huh? We're in that big of a mess?"

Kyle nodded curtly. "Yes."

Kevin exhaled. "Okay. How's this. You go recruit our extended family tree and I'll take care of all the strategy and tactics. Deal?"

Kyle frowned. "I think Overlord wanted to—"

"Overlord's army sucked ass," Kevin said. "No. He might be strong on his own but he has no team experience. Who's the guy who got to the Pokémon League?"

"Didn't you lose in the preliminaries?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Only because our good friend Chuno called me psycho furry spawn and attempted to murder Kari," Kevin said, voice brazen. "Good times."

"Those were the days." Kyle swallowed a lump in his throat.

"All right. If anyone asks what the hell you think you're doing, tell them I cautiously gave you the go-ahead." Kevin gave Kyle a sarcastic thumbs up. "Arceus, I hope this doesn't blow up spectacularly."

"You and me both." Kyle waved his brother off as he left to find Overlord.

* * *

Kyle found him up a tree, spying on Vera and the kids from afar. Part of him thought it was a bit creepy, but the other part pitied Overlord a little.

"Maybe you should talk to them instead." Kyle plopped down on a branch just below Overlord's.

Overlord made a face. "They don't want to hear a thing from me. It's better if I leave them alone." His grip on the branch tightened. "Who are the other two?"

Kyle peered down into the clearing, focusing on Little and his friend, who were nearby but clearly separate from Blue and Emmy. "Oh. Uh. That's… my kid. And his friend."

Overlord's eyes widened. "That's _your_ kid?"

Unsure how else to respond, Kyle just nodded.

"I didn't realize." Overlord took a breath. "Is his mother around? Would she be willing to fight?"

Kyle paled. "Um… _Well_ …."

"It's all right if she's not. We'll make do." Overlord dropped down from the branch and looked up at Kyle. "We should probably get recruiting, by the way."

Kyle let out a breath. "Right. Let's go."

* * *

All aboard the Time Travel Express, Kyle thought to himself, noting that he was starting to get used to the tilt-a-whirl qualities of travelling through time and space. Whether that was a good thing or not, he wasn't sure. First stop…

"Petalburg Woods, 1985," Overlord said, and they emerged from the portal onto the familiar turf of their childhood home. From the humidity in the air and the lowness of the sun in the sky, it looked to be late summer.

Overlord's hands trembled as he grazed the edges of the portal, shrinking it down without closing it fully. By the time he was done, it was hardly noticeable, just a speck of miscoloured air. "If you wouldn't mind, Ky, it might be best if you do the explaining."

Kyle blinked. "What? Why?" He had assumed Overlord had just wanted him around for moral support, or supplementary comments, or something. It was Overlord's idea to do this, wasn't it?

"Talking's what you do for a living." Overlord wrapped his cloak around his body. He almost looked like a human at a funeral. "Either way, it's not something I'm good at."

"I don't know if anyone's particularly skilled at going back in time and explaining it to their parents," Kyle said. "But fine. I'll try my best."

Overlord gave him a weak smile. "Thank you."

Kyle nodded, then turned to look at his surroundings. Upon getting his bearings, he set off for their family's particular neck of the woods, with Overlord following close behind him. "So. 1985. You're not born yet."

"No," Overlord confirmed. "I'm restricted from changing too much to do with my own life. This is about the closest I can get to the time I was born."

"I see," Kyle said. "So what do we do when they ask for proof we're their kids, then?"

"Pray they believe us." Overlord grimaced. "Blue eyed Monferno are rare enough that they might just be all the proof they need."

Kyle scoffed, thinking back to the whole debacle with Little's parentage. "Yeah really. I guess if they're really skeptical, I can answer family trivia, too. All right."

A few twists and turns through the trees later and they happened upon their old videophone. Cory had somehow hotwired it to work in the middle of the woods using some early, chunky cellphone technology that had probably been groundbreaking at the time. Kyle let out a breath and walked over to it, glancing around. The trees were a little less burnt than he remembered, not yet subjected to Kevin's many, many practice battles, but otherwise, the view was the same. With the late afternoon light shining through the leaves, it was just like any other summer visit.

"Nostalgic, huh?" Kyle put his hands in his pocket.

Overlord shrugged. "I suppose."

"You don't remember it, do you?" Kyle glanced over his shoulder. "Blue said… He mentioned our parents were dead, in your world."

"I was five," Overlord said. "All I remember is Lord Shade standing over their bodies, telling me it'd be all right. The Orréan deserts are all I knew after that."

Kyle cringed. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's all right," Overlord said, but the look on his face told Kyle it wasn't.

"Listen…" He turned around. He froze when he saw a hint of orange through the trees. "They're coming!"

"Don't panic!" Overlord focused his attention behind him. "Just… wait for them, and then say something!"

Oh, god, right, he said he'd do the talking, didn't he? Kyle suddenly realized how unprepared he was to introduce himself to his parents, let alone give them a recruitment speech in hopes they'd love him enough to fight legendaries in the future for his sake. He wondered how he'd react if Little, or some other kid he didn't even know showed up at Headquarters one day, claimed they were his child and asked him to participate in a death battle. How exactly would he respond to that?

"Ky?" Overlord asked. "Are you all right?"

Screw it. Life or death. He had to try.

Kyle swallowed. "I'm fine. Bring it on."

Their mother appeared first, young and stunning as ever, with her familiar smile wide on her face. It was their father that Kyle had a harder time recognizing, the image of him as a human having all but replaced his original Pokémon form in Kyle's brain. Kyle grit his teeth as the two of them stopped, their faces contorting in confusion, and took a deep breath.

"Hello, Mom and Dad," he blurted out, biting his tongue in the process. "We're your kids from the future, and we need your help."


	22. Chapter 22

"This is insane," Cory said. "Completely and utterly—"

"Look at their faces, honey," Sunny said. "Who else could they—"

"Time travel is a science fiction trope!" Cory flung his arms out to his sides. " _Fiction_!"

"So are half-human hybrids," Kyle added. Cory scowled.

"Just hear us out, okay?" Kyle tried for the eighteenth time (he'd counted), his hands folded across his lap as he sat on a large tree root sticking out of the earth. "We've got proof."

"Proof like you somehow knowing about my parentage, or the Cell Separation System, or my favourite kind of ramen?" Cory narrowed his eyes. "All that proves is that you've been spying on me for a very, very—"

Ignoring Cory, Kyle turned to Overlord, who was leaning against the tree. "Hey, can you like, grab a newspaper from the future or something? Like the quarter you gave me, something with the date on it."

"—very long time, and there is nothing you can do to prove you haven't forged the dates on any of your supposed physical evidence, either!"

So young, healthy Cory was an angry skeptic, whereas old, human Cory was merely a tired one. All right, that was fine. He could still do this. He just needed to try a different approach.

"Mom," he said, changing tactics. Sunny perked her head up. "You know him best. What do you think would help convince him?"

"Don't answer him," Cory said, but Sunny was already opening her mouth to say something.

"What if you brought something back from the past that couldn't be forged?" Her eyebrows creased. "Cory can pick what it is. Just… something only he knows is the real thing."

"Can you do that?" Kyle flicked his eyes up towards Overlord.

Overlord shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't be too much trouble."

Cory's mouth twisted in disgust. "Something that can't be forged, huh?"

He took a visible breath and started to talk very fast. "When I was eleven years old, my father bought me a novel called _The Spring Without Pokémon_ , by Agatha Joy. It's on the second section of my bookshelf at my old house, toward the left side. If you can bring me that exact copy of the book, I'll believe you."

Kyle blinked. He loved that book. Knowing that he had missed out on potential father-son bonding over it was a little heartbreaking, but maybe they could catch up later? Now was hardly the time. He cleared his throat.

"I'm guessing there's a way you'll know it's your copy?" Kyle said. "That should work. Right?"

Overlord nodded. "That will work. One moment."

One new portal later and Overlord was gone, returning barely a second later with a book in hand. He handed the book to Cory, who immediately began flipping through it.

"Well," Cory said, voice thin. "This is it, all right."

"For sure?" Sunny asked.

He stared downward. "There's a blob of ink on the first page of chapter four, where I broke an old pen," he said, showing her the page. "So. This is really happening."

"Great!" Kyle clapped his hands together. "So! Now that we've established that, we can move on to why we're here in the first place!"

"You need our help." Cory eyed him, caution still evident in his eyes. "I can't imagine why."

Kyle did his best to maintain his placid expression. "We may have gotten ourselves involved in fighting some legendary Pokémon, and we also may have found ourselves in need of larger numbers."

Cory blinked. "Fighting legendary Pokémon," he repeated.

"They're not bunk," Kyle said quickly.

"I wasn't going to—" Cory bit his lip. "I just… I need a bit to let this sink in."

"That's understandable." Kyle placed his hands on his lap.

Sunny watched her husband, frowning. "If you need people to help you fight, why come to us? There has to be a better option."

"We kinda already rounded up all the better options," Kyle said. "At this point, we need as much help as we can get."

Sunny hummed in thought. "Well, I don't know how much help I'd be, but I'd be happy to do whatever I can. It's Cory you'll have to convince."

"You're too accepting." Cory glanced at her.

"They're our children, Cory." She gave him a hard stare.

He heaved a sigh. "They're older than _us_ … I know, I know," he said, caving as her expression turned into a glare. "It's just that… Battling was never my strong suit. Not without a— without someone guiding me. You should know that."

"We've got people to guide you." Kyle had a feeling he knew what word Cory had avoided. "Kev's good at that. So's Blue, and Roo, and Chikoro, even."

"Emera as well," Overlord said stiffly.

"Oh yeah, she's really good to have on your shoulder." Kyle looked back at his father, who was staring, speechless. "Look, you don't have to if you don't want to—"

Sunny shook her head. "We'll help you."

Cory balked. "Sunny—!"

"If they've come to us from the future, they must be desperate," Sunny said. "I know we're not the best battlers, but if they think we can still help, I trust them."

"Thank you." Kyle gave her a warm smile. "That means a lot to us."

"Holy hell," Cory said through his teeth. "Sunny, you're going to kill me one day."

She patted him on the shoulder. "You'll live."

"So you'll help us?" Overlord said.

Cory let his arms fall to his sides, conceding. "I guess so," he said. "Though, I'm almost certain this will end very, very badly."

"Relax, okay? We've got it covered." Kyle waved his hands. "Everything will be fine. Now we just need to convince Uncle Nick."

Cory blinked. "What? Oh, that's…" He swallowed. "Huh."

* * *

"Yello," Nick answered, voice suave and smug.

"Hey, Nick." Cory twirled the phone cord between his fingers.

"Well, if it isn't my dear brother! I never would have guessed," Nick said. The video screen flickered on, and on it appeared the interior of a homey, white-walled cottage and Kyle's uncle with a charming smile. His face fell as he saw Kyle and Overlord in the background of the call. "Oh. This is new."

"Yeah." Cory nearly let out an incredulous laugh. "So, uh, about. This thing."

He glanced back at Kyle, screaming internally. Kyle shrugged and took the phone out of his father's hand. "Hi. I'm Kyle Holly."

"Kyle Holly," Nick said, rolling over each syllable methodically. "'Kay. Shoot."

Kevin and I," Kyle gestured to Overlord, who nodded in acknowledgement, "are from the future, and we've gotten ourselves into a bit of trouble. Mom and Dad," he pointed at Cory and Sunny, "already agreed to help us. We were wondering if you could help, too."

Nick scoffed, his lip turning up into a half smirk. "For real? Holy—" He scratched his chin. "Really, Cory? They walked up to you and said that and you agreed to help? What, do you just have unyielding trust in anyone who speaks human?!"

"I…" Cory faltered.

"Well, we had to prove ourselves." Kyle smiled sheepishly.

"I'll bet." Nick raised his eyebrows. "Prove it again."

Kyle hesitated. He knew next to nothing about his uncle, other than the circumstances of his death, but he couldn't exactly use that as proof, could he? He wasn't sure if Cory's book would work for Nick, either. He glanced at Overlord, hoping he'd understand Kyle's silent request for assistance. Overlord shifted his weight around and crossed his arms.

"I can retrieve an object from the past of your choosing," Overlord said. It looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Neat," Nick said brazenly, his focus turning to Overlord. "Can I keep it after?"

"No," Overlord narrowed his eyes.

Nick shrugged, unfazed. "Fine. I want to see Cory's diary."

Cory cringed. "I don't have a diary."

"Then what do you call the little notebook you used to keep under your pillow? Come on, it would prove they're the real deal, wouldn't it?" Nick said. "I mean, you burned it when we left, so it's not like it exists anymore."

"Yeah, but—"

Overlord flicked his wrist, materializing a new portal. "Be right back," he said, as Nick watched in fascination.

He returned holding a worn notebook. Overlord brought it close to the screen, turning to one of the middle pages and flipping through it at random. "There. Happy?"

Kyle couldn't see Nick, since Overlord was now blocking the videophone screen, but his uncle's joy was evident in his voice as he let out a low chuckle. "All right, Kyle Holly and associate of fewer words. I'll bite. What kind of trouble are you in?"

Explaining things to Nick went a lot easier. He seemed much more invested than Cory, asking a lot more questions ("Which legendaries?" "How old are you exactly?" "Tell me about this war") with an intrigued smirk permanently glued on his face. He asked for Overlord to show him a few more items from the past, not because he still disbelieved them, Kyle suspected, but because he simply missed seeing things from his old home. Overlord grew increasingly tense with each request, however, so Kyle decided to put an end to it before things became too unmanageable.

"Does this mean you're on board with helping?" Kyle asked.

His uncle raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. "Well. Let's see. You're my nephews from the future and got yourselves tangled up in a legendary war. You're both desperate enough to win it that you're using mysterious magical powers to come to the past for help. There are risks involved, but because of the way time travel apparently works, us folks from the past are safer because we're meant to keep living. Am I right?"

"That's the theory," Overlord muttered under his breath.

Kyle nodded. "Exactly."

"Hmm." Nick hummed, crossing his arms. "To tell you the truth, I think this is completely insane. But if Cory's willing to put his life on the line, then I guess I am, too." He uncrossed his arms and stretched them over his head. "Though you might have to convince my wife."

Overlord swore. "It's going to be like this every single time, isn't it?"

"Hey, it's better than I expected." Kyle grinned. "All right. Bring her in, we'll talk to her."

Nick shook his head. "Nah, she'll want to talk to you directly," he said. "Phones aren't the best for telepathy, y'know?"

Kyle frowned. "Oh. Uh—"

"We'll be right there." Overlord pulled Kyle's wrist, dragging him yet again through a sea of green lights.

"Lily can teleport," Nick said, blinking, once they had emerged on the other side. "I was thinking we'd come over there. But whatever, this is quicker." He said a quick goodbye to Cory and then hung up the phone.

Overlord's cheeks tinged the slightest shade of red as he made his way over to the nearest wall to lean on, leaving the portal as it was. "Mm."

"Lily, babe," Nick called over his shoulder. "We've got guests."

A moment passed, and then slowly from around the corner a tall Gardevoir emerged, gazing down at them with her ethereal red eyes. The rest of her was equally otherworldly; from her long, flowing skirt to the rest of her clear, inquisitive expression. Her mouth thinned as she looked at Kyle and Overlord, and turning to Nick, she began to speak telepathically.

 _"_ _I heard your end of the conversation,"_ Lily said. Like Cresselia, and unlike Lord Chronos, she didn't move her mouth. _"I don't like how eager you are to do something so dubious."_

"I'm not exactly _eager_ ," Nick said. "But I'm not about to let Cory and Sunny run off into unknown territory by themselves."

She focused on him intently. _"And I'm not about to let you be so reckless."_

"If I could interrupt," Kyle said. Lily turned to face him, and he felt a chill at the intensity of her stare. "Um, hi. I'm Kyle. Time travel is very useful for preventing anything bad from, uh, happening. I can attest to that. And you guys are semi-protected by the, uh…"

"Anti-paradox measures," Overlord said.

"Yes! Those!" Kyle smiled in relief. "As my brother here explained on the phone, since you guys are supposed to live past this date, the universe should do whatever it can to guarantee that. That's my understanding, anyway."

Overlord nodded.

 _"_ _I can feel that_ _you_ _truly believe that,"_ Lily said, _"but there are doubts in your brother's mind."_

She looked pointedly at Overlord, who shrunk under her gaze.

"Well, I— There's always a chance that the timelines become too conflicting, and the anti-paradox measures fail, but—"

 _"_ _I don't like to take chances,"_ Lily said.

"You took a chance with me." Nick hummed.

She turned to face him, startled. _"There's a difference between a good chance and a bad one!"_

"Yeah, a few percentage points." Nick let out a sigh. "Look, Lily, I'm already in. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to, but I can't let Cory go without me."

 _"_ _Nick…"_

"He's my brother. I've gotta be there for him, no matter what." He nodded at Kyle and Overlord. "I think these two know what I mean."

Overlord nodded vigorously. "Of course."

Kyle's voice stuck in his throat. "Right."

 _"_ _Nick."_ Lily eyed Kyle. _"I think you should really think this over more."_

"I can't abandon Cory," Nick said, voice firm.

Lily said nothing for a long time. She appeared to be having a wordless battle with her husband, exchanging fierce expressions with him as she towered over them all. Nick remained unfettered, however, and kept his stance, never breaking eye contact.

 _"_ _Fine,"_ she finally said, turning away. _"If that's how you feel, then so be it."_ And she left, her footsteps noiseless as she glided across the floor.

Nick swallowed what looked like a lump in his throat, and then turned to Overlord. "Well then. Shall we?"

Overlord gave him a slow nod, and pulled their uncle through the mass of swirling green light.

* * *

Overlord dropped off Kyle and Nick at his castle as he went to retrieve Cory and Sunny.

"You're from the future," Nick addressed Kyle, taking in Overlord's parlour with mild interest. "If it's not a crime against the laws of space-time or whatever, can you tell me if Lily and I work things out?"

Kyle held his breath. The last time he saw Nick and Lily, he was probably a toddler. He had no idea if their marriage had been on the rocks or not. Even so, he supposed they had to have at least lasted a few more years than what they had currently. "You do."

Nick let out a relieved groan. "Good. My life has already been through the toilet too many times to count."

Kyle could sympathize.

Just then, Overlord returned with their parents. He shut the portals while still keeping the tiniest bit of them open, like he had done in the woods previously. "All right." He faced Kyle. "I suppose that didn't go too badly."

"Three out of four ain't bad, huh?" Nick held his chin.

Overlord made a sound somewhere in between agreement and disdain.

"Is Lily okay?" Sunny asked, frowning.

"She's fine, don't worry." Nick waved a hand. "She just didn't feel like coming."

Kyle was almost certain that everyone knew Nick was lying, but nobody questioned it.

"So." Nick crossed his arms. "Whose unfathomably luxurious mansion is this?"

"Mine." Overlord grimaced. "Or at least, it used to be."

Nick whistled. "You some old lady's faithful pet or something?"

" _Nick_ ," Cory said bitingly.

"Well it can't be _his_ money." Nick raised his eyebrows.

Kyle wanted to interject, but Overlord took over. "It was given to me by a legendary by the name of Lord Shade."

Kyle frowned. "Darkrai, you mean."

"That's his species, yes." Overlord cleared his throat. "Lord Shade is the legendary we consider the primary threat. He's a dark type Pokémon who has lived for thousands of years mastering nightmares and illusions. He also happens to be my former employer."

"Hm," Nick said. "So you're actually an old man's runaway dog."

"You could say that," Overlord muttered. He walked over to one of the ornate end tables and pressed a button on a small intercom Kyle only just noticed. "Kari? I need you and our guest in the parlour."

Kyle's eyes widened. "Wait, since when did you bring Kari here?"

Overlord gave him a look. "I told you I had a couple people. Who did you think I meant?"

A door on the far end of the room eased open, and in walked a large Machamp with Kari, both eyes clear and undamaged. Oh. Right, _her_. That made more sense. But…

"You—" Kyle's eyes shot from Kari to Overlord and back again. "I told you to stop working for him if I beat you!"

She stiffened. "I was hit by an Ice Beam. You didn't do anything."

Overlord gave him an odd look. "Why on Earth would she agree to a deal like that?"

"Because you were—" Kyle winced as he remembered who was in their company. "Y'know! Not… good! At the time! And she's a good person, and deserves better than— than _this_!" He gestured at the two of them wildly with his hands.

"Well. You should have known better than to ask that of my most loyal guard," Overlord said. Kari beamed, but he didn't notice. "Anyway." He bit his lip and suddenly became a lot more awkward.

"Arnold." Overlord nodded at the Machamp.

"Arnie." The Machamp gave him a warm smile.

"Arnie," Overlord repeated, clenching his fists. "This is…"

 _"_ _Your family?"_ Arnie said.

"Y-yes," Overlord replied.

Kyle blinked. A human name, but Pokémon speech. Not to mention Overlord's strange behaviour. He wondered who this Arnie guy was.

 _"_ _It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your majesty."_ Arnie bowed his head to Sunny. She stared at him, her arms unconsciously raising up in a protective gesture.

 _"_ _You know who I am?"_ she asked, guarded.

He chuckled. " _I lived on Jagged Pass next to your clan for many years. My daughter always spoke highly of the runaway princess, even if no one else did. You are a brave person to challenge your society."_

 _"_ _Oh!"_ Sunny's body relaxed in relief. _"Thank you! I don't hear that very often."_

Arnie smiled and turned to Cory. _"And this must be your husband?"_

 _"_ _Yes!"_ Sunny said, taking Cory's arm (and taking Cory by surprise). _"This is Cory! He helped me run away by climbing down the mountain!"_

 _"_ _H-hello,"_ Cory said in a shaky accent.

 _"_ _And I'm Nick, his brother,"_ Nick said, his eyes half-lidded. _"I was in another region the whole time."_

Arnie laughed. _"Good to meet you all."_

"Yes, good." Overlord grabbed Kyle's wrist again and pulled him over. "Well, why don't you four get to know each other while we go run an errand? We'll just be a minute. Kari, could you…?"

"Of course, my lord," Kari said.

"Thank you," Overlord said, and before anyone could say a word, he was pulling Kyle through a portal. _Again_.

"This has got to stop." Kyle swallowed a bit of bile that had crawled up his throat from the shock of tumbling through time unexpectedly. "I'm not a friggin' suitcase, so could you stop dragging me around?"

"Sorry," Overlord apologized, letting go of Kyle's wrist. "I just… I didn't want to be in that room anymore."

"What's wrong? That Arnie guy's your friend, isn't he?" Kyle frowned.

"I trust him," Overlord said. "And I'd prefer that he trusts me for now, too."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, don't talk about it." He finally took the time to take in his surroundings. The familiar pattern of patio stones, waterfront shops, and the view of the ocean made him double take. Humans walked around them, some giving them a sidelong glance but mostly paying them no mind. There was only one place in the world Kyle knew that was like this.

"We're back at the Battle Zone?" Kyle said, blinking.

Overlord nodded. "I arranged to pick up the kids while I left you with Nick."

"Over here," a sultry voice called from one of the shaded tables outside Stella's favourite coffee shop. A Pikachu wearing some kind of shimmery purple shawl waved at them from her seat across from a Monferno dressed in a leather jacket and aviator shades. The Monferno took his shades off, resting them on top of his head. Kyle could have been looking at a mirror, and if it weren't for the styled hair and pierced ear, it would have been hard to tell the difference.

"Hi Dad," the Monferno said, opening his mouth to give them a wicked smile. "Welcome to the future."


	23. Chapter 23

Kyle's brain, now relatively used to time travel weirdness, could handle seeing a young adult version of his son sitting at a table, drinking some elaborate concoction that was supposedly called coffee. What he couldn't handle, and what he was currently staring at, bug-eyed, was the black, stitched together material wrapped around Little's torso.

"Why the _hell_ ," Kyle said, voice low, "are you wearing leather. _Leather_."

Little flashed him a wide, horrifying grin. "It's a metaphor. You put the thing they killed around your arms, but you don't give them the money to do more killing."

"He stole it." The Pikachu failed to hide a grin of her own. "He's been waiting for you to ask about it for months."

"And who the hell are you?" He turned to her with piercing eyes.

"We've met. I'm Kachi." She smirked.

Kachi… Catchy. Oh. Hearing her name in her own accent made much more sense now that Little wasn't bungling the pronunciation. There was something weird about her that Kyle couldn't put his finger on, but there were more pressing matters at the moment.

"Is that real leather?" Kyle asked.

"One hundred percent genuine," Little said smoothly.

"Take it off. Now." Kyle was clenching his fists so hard his knuckles were white.

"Oh my god, he's so mad!" Kachi strained to contain her laughter.

"Do you react this way to every average guy with a leather coat?" Little asked, amused.

"This is different," Kyle said. " _You're_ the one wearing—"

"Ha!" Little pointed at him. "Yeah, there we go, you just proved my point."

"Your point?" Kyle said, bewildered. "What point? You—"

"It's a Shades thing," Little said. "C'mon, Dad."

Kyle paled. "That is the exact _opposite_ of a Shades thing! If you want to look cool, then wear something fake—"

"It has to be real," Little cut him off. His expression went serious. "That way people _care_. They think, 'Oh, god, that's disgusting, how could he do that?' Because it's like wearing someone else's skin. But they wouldn't think twice if I were a _human_ wearing leather, would they? Nobody would think it's wrong. Nobody would wonder why it's still legal."

He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head, and pushed his aviators back over his eyes. "I want people to question why it's okay for some people to wear leather, and not others. It's real, because that gets the message across loud and clear."

Little took a swig of his coffee, and Kyle felt like the victim of a hidden camera show, half-expecting a crew to emerge from behind the potted plants decorating the plaza and announce that he'd been pranked. A moment passed, and nothing happened. Kyle let out a breath.

"It's still an abhorrent thing to do," he said slowly.

"But?" Little said.

"But fine," Kyle grumbled. "If it's really to make a big political statement, I suppose that's an acceptable reason to wear leather. Just barely."

Little broke into a huge smile and held out his palm. Rolling her eyes, Kachi pulled a crumpled ball of cash out of her shawl and gave it to him.

"What was that for?" Kyle said.

"Nothing, just won a bet." Little swung his arms forward and leaned over the glass table, peering over the rims of his sunglasses. "So. Conscription time has come."

"I'm afraid so," Overlord said. Kyle almost jumped; he had forgotten he was there. "Are you still willing to fight?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here." Little took what must have been a phone out of his pocket and tapped rapidly on the screen. "Em and Blue will be here in a sec."

Overlord let out a breath. "All right."

"Em says they're only doing this for my dad, and not you." Little read off the phone screen. "Her words. But yeah. You've got us four."

Kyle was touched, even if Overlord wasn't. "Thank you."

"There's still time to change your minds, if you need to," Overlord said quickly. "I can come another day, if—"

"We had a long time to figure out what we wanted to do." Little drained his coffee cup and set it aside.

"I just want to make certain you all know you can never come back." Overlord's lips thinned.

"Let's be real here. What do we have to lose, by going back?" Little said. "Nothing, that's what. It'd be different if we were human, and had lives that really matter. But we're not, and in the grand scheme of things, we really don't. Dad never changed the world enough for that."

Kyle frowned. "It takes a lot of time to change the world that much."

"I know, I just—" Little bit his tongue. "We made our decision already. That's all there is to it."

The conversation died there.

True to Little's word, it didn't take very long for Blue and Emmy to join them at the table. Overlord's kids had also evolved. Blue was now a decently imposing Infernape, a mass of what looked like pure muscle towering over them all. Kyle had to admit he was a bit intimidated, especially by the expression Blue was looking at his father with.

Emmy, on the other hand, was much leaner. Her resemblance to Kevin was more noticeable now that she was a couple feet taller and had lost some of her childish baby fat. She wore a lavender scarf around her neck, but was otherwise bare. Kyle vaguely wondered whether that was supposed to be a political statement, too.

"It's so nice to see you, Uncle Kyle!" Emmy ignored her father completely as she wrapped her arms in a hug around Kyle. He hugged her back, a little surprised at how tightly she was holding him.

"Nice to see you too." Kyle gave her a soft pat on the back. He nodded at Blue. "You both look well."

Blue smiled, and his intimidating features dissolved. "We manage."

Kyle gave him a curious look. "Just manage? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's…" She bit her lip.

Kyle released himself from Emmy's grip and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what sort of terrible thing aren't you telling me this time?" Kyle said.

"How do we put this?" Little hummed, hand over his mouth.

"You're dead," Kachi said in the same pleasant tone she always seemed to have.

Little eyed her. "I guess that's one way to say it, yeah."

Kyle bit his tongue. If he hadn't just gone through the same thing a few months ago in Overlord's castle, he might have had a more extreme reaction, but here he was, used to it. "I guess that explains the hug."

Emmy gave him a nervous smile. "We didn't want to freak you out again."

"Guys, it's okay." Kyle breathed. "You're from the future, but not necessarily one where we win unscathed." He glanced at Overlord. "Right?"

Overlord said nothing, seemingly lost in his own world.

"And it looks like, despite everything that may have happened, you all still grew up okay," Kyle said. "You're alive, and that's what matters. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I'll do everything I can to make it up to you now. We're going to win this time. Promise."

Emmy nodded adamantly. "You're the best, Uncle Kyle."

"And hey!" Kyle smacked Overlord on the shoulder. "While you're at it, maybe don't shun your dad? He's the reason we're not all dead right now."

"He's also the reason the lords attacked us in the first place," Blue said sharply.

"Well, yeah, but—" Kyle faltered. The look in Blue's eyes told him that he was trying to fight a losing battle. "Okay. We'll work on that later. For now, let's get back to Fullmoon and prep for this big fight, all right? We'll work out any and all family stuff after."

Blue seemed unconvinced, but he nodded anyway. "All right."

"Hold on," a scratchy voice called from a few feet away. Kyle turned.

It was… Roo, it seemed. It took Kyle a second to recognize him; although he hadn't grown any taller like the other kids had, there was something about him that made him seem much, much older. Once he had caught their attention, he came closer, and Kyle noticed the unevenness in his steps. Had he injured his leg, maybe?

"Roo." Emmy was frozen in place. "We talked about this. You shouldn't—"

"It doesn't matter what I should do. I'm coming with you anyway." His tail moved behind him, and Kyle saw that Roo was also missing one of the seeds that usually circled the end of it. "I decided that the moment I heard about this little plan of yours."

"Oh my god, you're acting like it's some big conspiracy we kept from you," Emmy said. "That's not what we're doing! My dad showed up and asked _us_ specifically—"

"And I heard him say they needed all the help they could get, so I'm here too!" Roo raised his voice. He took a deep breath to calm himself, looking to Overlord. "I'm sure you'd appreciate an extra fighter on your side."

"The more the merrier, right?" Overlord said quietly.

Kyle chewed his tongue. He knew the younger Emmy back home wasn't Roo's biggest fan and vice versa, but he thought since they were older, they would have grown out of such childish behaviour by now. Even so, Overlord had a point. "I don't really know the full story here, but we _do_ need all the help we can get. Can you still fight all right, with those injuries?"

Roo stared him down. "I wouldn't be here if I couldn't, Mr. Shade."

Kyle blinked. He wasn't sure if he preferred ultra-serious Roo to his usual jokey self, but he supposed he couldn't be too picky what with the situation at hand. "Okay, cool. You're in."

Emmy looked like she was at death's door with how pale she had become. "I don't think you get how bad of a decision that was."

Kyle raised his eyebrows. "Does anyone else have a problem with Roo joining?"

Little put on an awkward smile. "Well… _I_ don't, but…"

"No." Blue avoided Emmy's eyes.

"I like him," Kachi said.

"All right," Kyle said. "Then, Emmy? Whatever personal grievances you have with Roo, can you put them aside for like, six hours? After that I don't care, you can go back to mutually hating each other or whatever it is you do. Cool?"

Emmy hesitated, but she seemed to understand. "I… I guess I can do that."

"The same goes for you, Roo," Kyle said.

Roo crossed his arms. "As long as I don't work with her, I'm good."

Kyle smiled nervously. "Well, you'll have to take that up with Kevin when he figures out what to do with you guys. But now that that's settled, we'd better rendezvous with the others."

Overlord sliced a portal open. "After you."

* * *

Kevin let out a low whistle as soon as they all emerged from the portal into the clearing. "Arceus, you really weren't kidding."

"I don't kid," Overlord said coolly.

Sunny narrowed her eyes at Kevin. "Hold on, you two are—"

"The same person," Overlord cut her off, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably. "I know that's confusing, but if we all just agree to use Kevin A and Kevin B, then—"

Kevin's face turned ugly. "No. I'm Kevin, and you're Overlord. End of discussion."

The air went frigid in the following silence.

"Okaaay." Kyle felt like he was the only one in the world able to diffuse the ticking time bomb in front of them. "Why don't we all just chill and call each other by our names? And if we have to specify, we say 'the one in the cloak' and 'the one not'. Cool?"

Overlord took a deep breath, his face scrunching up as he did so. "Fine. Fine, you're right, we don't have time to fight over this."

Kevin let out a muffled "Mmph," but didn't go on.

"Right, so…" Kyle took a deep breath. "Kevin, we've brought Mom and Dad and Uncle Nick, you know who they are—"

Sunny waved, giving him a warm, albeit confused smile. Cory followed her lead while Nick shrugged in acknowledgement.

Kevin's eyes widened. "Oh— Right. Of course." He opened his mouth to continue, but then seemed to think better of it and shut it again.

Kyle nodded. "Then Kari – um, the other one – and Arnie, he's the Machamp—"

The other Kari looked away. Arnie grinned widely and made to shake Kevin's hand. Kevin accepted the handshake, his hand looking quite small compared to the Machamp's massive ones.

"And the kids. Plus Roo. That's everyone we got." Kyle finished.

Kevin nodded, gliding his gaze across the faces of each of the future kids. He stopped at Little, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.

"Heya, kiddo. You're making me feel— Well. I don't know if I should say _old_ , but…" Kevin scratched the back of his neck. "Did you go out for Halloween as your dad or something?"

"I'm the Shade." Little winked and showed off a dazzling smile. "The more relevant one, anyway."

"He's the new figurehead, at least." Kachi's tail twitched. "The idea people are more behind the scenes."

"Oh, so same as now," Kevin said. He rolled his eyes at Kyle's huffed reaction. " _Kidding_! All right. Great. This is great. We might actually stand a chance."

Overlord had a far off look in his eyes. "We'd better."

"So what's the plan?" Future-Roo said. He looked pointedly at Kevin.

Kevin nodded. "Glad you asked." He placed his fingers to his lips and let out an impressive whistle. "Everyone, game time!"

One by one, the members of the newly formed Team Holly made their way to the center of the clearing. Amongst all the commotion, there were looks of awe as well as confusion; Kyle supposed that their new allies from the past and future were to thank for that. He caught Kari's gaze in particular darting from Overlord to her alternate universe self and then back again, and mentally prepared himself for the inevitable explosion.

There was an explosion, but not the one Kyle was expecting.

 _"_ _Dad?!"_ Vera's hands shot to her mouth. The rest of her words were muffled, but clearly panicked.

Arnie's face lit up in delight. _"There's my girl! C'mere, you!"_

He didn't give her a chance as he ran over to her, scooping her up with his two left arms so he could sit her on his shoulder. Vera shook, mortified.

 _"_ _I don't understand what you're doing here,"_ Vera stammered, a large blush covering her entire face. _"You— None of this has anything to do with you, but…"_

 _"_ _They're your family, aren't they? And that makes them my family, too."_ Arnie put her back down. Vera stumbled, but regained her balance in time before she fell. _"I only wish I could have visited sooner, what with your boyfriend's teleporting powers."_

"Th-that was a recent development," Overlord said.

It all clicked in Kyle's head at that moment. This version of Vera's father was from Overlord's dimension, and definitely wasn't privy to the full story behind why he was here. No wonder Overlord had been acting so jumpy and nervous. If he'd just quit lying and tell the truth—

"Uh… anyway?" Kevin eyed the "reunion" before him critically. "We can save catching up and stuff for after we win. Right now, it's important to get some decent strategy up and running, got it?"

Arnie apologized and gave him a large smile. Vera remained dazed.

"Right, so, I think it's best if we sort ourselves into teams," Kevin continued. "That'll make things more manageable, tactics-wise. Anyone who's done double battles before should probably pair up, since you'll be more familiar with fighting with each other, yeah?"

The competitive jargon Kevin kept spouting made Kyle groan, but he managed to understand his brother well enough. He looked around, noticing that everyone else seemed to be doing the same. A few obvious pairs had already formed; their mother had attached herself to their father almost immediately, and both versions of Little and Kachi stayed close to one another. Kyle saw Overlord eyeing the still shaken Vera and heaved a sigh.

"Bad idea," he muttered, walking up to Overlord.

Overlord exhaled in defeat. "I know."

Kyle crossed his arms. "Look," he said, hoping he wouldn't regret what he was about to say, "how about we stick together? I suck at battling, so I need help, and not many people here are your biggest fans, so…"

Overlord looked like he was going to get emotional, but kept composed. "That sounds… good. Thank you."

So that was that. Kyle let out a breath.

After about ten minutes of mumbling and discussing options with Chikoro (with random input from one of the Roos now and then), Kevin finally had teams made up. He went around the clearing one last time, mulling things over, before finally clapping his hands together.

"All right!" he shouted. "Listen up! I think we've got the teams sorted!"

Blue, Vera, Kari, and the Roo from the future were together, with Blue and Roo being heavy hitters and Kari and Vera providing support. They'd probably be in the thick of things, which would have made Kyle worried if it hadn't been for Blue's remarkable skill in the last big battle. He had little doubt they'd be fine.

Roo and Chikoro, along with the Blue and Emmy from the future, would be a core force in the fight since they were all rather battle-savvy and experienced. In particular, Kevin was impressed when Future-Blue hit a tree and toppled it in a demonstration of his power. Kyle's only worry was that Future-Emmy was on the same team as current-Roo. How that had managed to happen was beyond him, but Kyle hoped that whatever vendetta she had against Roo wouldn't carry over to his younger self. He'd have to check up on that one.

Cory, Sunny, and Nick would be sticking close to Kevin, probably due to Kevin's own worry about their safety. Still, they did need a trainer to guide them to really be helpful, and Kevin was probably the best fit for that job. According to Kevin, Nick was also a decent battler, so hopefully they'd be okay.

The biggest group was the background support squad, consisting of Stella, Ero, Emmy, and both Littles and Kachis. Their focus was less on power and more on hindering opponents with status conditions and other sneak attacks. Hopefully they wouldn't end up in the middle of everything with all the chaos going on. He trusted the adult Little and Kachi to see to that.

And finally, the last team was what Kyle wanted to call the Overlord-apologists, consisting of himself, Overlord, Dream-Kari, and Arnie. Kevin reached them with his hands on his hips, frowning.

"Kyle, you might wanna switch into the support squad, just saying," Kevin said. "That said, if I'm to believe everything you told me earlier, you're probably safest right next to the one in the cloak here, so…"

"I should mention I plan to protect everyone," Overlord said, "not just Kyle and my family."

"Way to go, you're one step closer to being a decent human being," Kevin said. "Er, you know. Person. Whatever. I'll hold you to that."

Overlord nodded, but said nothing. Kyle breathed.

"I'll be okay here. It keeps things a bit more even between forces if I stay," he said.

"True," Kevin said.

 _"_ _He'll be in good hands, kiddo. Don't worry."_ Arnie gave Kyle a sudden pat on the shoulder that nearly made him have a heart attack.

"Yeah?" Kevin coughed, switching dialects. _"Well… I guess you seem okay. It's the other two I worry about."_

Arnie shrugged, patting Overlord's shoulder with one of his free hands. _"Let me tell ya, No-Cloak. This one here knows how to protect the ones he cares about."_

Overlord cheeks tinged with a light blush. "Please don't tell any stories."

 _"_ _I won't! Though I'm not sure why you wouldn't want me to. Your folks could stand to see you in the same light I do."_ Arnie frowned.

 _"_ _Maybe when we're not all under attack,"_ Kevin deadpanned. He bid them farewell and went to go talk to one of the other groups.

Dream-Kari scoffed. "The other you is kind of rude, don't you think?"

"Mm," Overlord mumbled.

She sighed. "Well, we're with you, regardless."

Overlord remained silent.

 _"_ _If you'd excuse me, I'm going to talk to my daughter some more,"_ Arnie said.

Overlord twitched. Kyle bit his lip. As fun as it would be to get involved in _that_ particular mess, he had other things topping his priority list – namely, the Roo and Emmy situation. He watched Arnie leave, and then turned to Overlord.

"I should probably take care of some things too," he said.

"Fine." Overlord crossed his arms, rolling his shoulders in the process. "I'll be right here if you need me."

There was a slight chip to Overlord's tone that made Kyle feel like he was being accused of something, but he decided not to comment on it. Instead, he made his way over to the part of the clearing where he knew future Emmy and present day Roo were. Or at least, he tried to; after looking for a minute, he realized he couldn't find them. They seemed to have disappeared, which only worried Kyle further.

Not knowing who else to turn to, he went for their teammates. He found future Blue chatting with Chikoro by the tree Blue had toppled earlier. Surely they would know where Roo and Emmy were, right? As he approached the two of them, though, Kyle felt the tension in the air and his hopes rapidly became worries.

"I can't do this. I'm done." Chikoro huffed, his leaf shielding half of his face like it usually did when he was upset.

"Knowing them, it won't last long," Blue said.

Uh oh. Chikoro got upset over little things all the time, but if Blue was taking it seriously, it must have been bad. Kyle announced his presence by clearing his throat and Chikoro looked up, expectantly.

"Hey. Uh, what's going on? Roo and Emmy aren't fighting again, are they?" Kyle said.

"I wish," Chikoro said, his voice getting uncharacteristically low.

"They're not fighting." Blue took a seat on the fallen tree he had knocked over earlier. "It's… kind of the opposite."

"What do you mean?" asked Kyle.

"See for yourself!" Chikoro spat, puffing out a cheek. He flipped his leaf again, gesturing behind him towards an arrangement of trees. Their branches hung low, folding over each other like fingers clasped together, and formed an almost grotto-like, shaded area. Now that Chikoro wasn't talking, he could hear muffled voices coming from the enclosure.

Kyle frowned, but moved towards the source of the noise. He ducked under the lowest hanging branches and was met with the now clear sound of giggling.

Roo and the Emmy from the future were huddled together, whispering to each other and laughing. Emmy's hand was on Roo's, stroking his claws with her thumb, as her tail flame flickered in the background, illuminating them warmly in the low light. Roo's eyes were half-closed as he spoke, too softly for Kyle to hear anything, while Emmy giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. And was she… blushing? Kyle blinked, once, twice, and then cleared his throat again, startling the two teens out of their conversation.

"Uh, hi," Kyle said. He raised his eyebrows. "What's going on here?"

Emmy frowned, looking none too pleased at the interruption. "Do you mind, Uncle Kyle? This is kind of…"

"Private," Roo supplied.

Emmy smirked. "Right. I don't think you want to be here."

Well, yeah, he could give her that. The shaded area was cozy and a little intimate, what with the streaks of sunlight peeking in through the trees providing the perfect nook for… private matters. Kyle was definitely getting third wheel vibes. But that wasn't the point! It was the two of them who were the problem here, not him!

"Look, you two," Kyle began, mustering up the most of his responsible parenting skills, "I don't know if you realized, but we're kind of going to be attacked, in a few hours—"

"I know that!" Emmy said. "It's not like I'm planning on skipping the fight!"

"But is it really the best idea to let yourself get distracted with… _him_?" Kyle let out a breath and looked pointedly at Roo. "And you. You don't see a problem with this at all?"

Roo grinned sheepishly. "Um… Well…"

Kyle _really_ wasn't sure what to make of this development. He liked being the cool uncle who was usually pretty chill with whatever Emmy decided she wanted to do with herself, but this was different. If Emmy and Roo didn't have a rocky history that raised a million red flags, if they weren't about to be attacked by angry legendaries, and if it wasn't really friggin' weird for them to just hook up out of nowhere, maybe, _maybe_ he would have been okay with it. But none of the conditions were met, and Kyle had no idea what to do.

"Is there a problem?" Emmy said, her tongue sharp. "It's none of your business what two consenting adults choose to do with themselves."

Kyle let out a scoff. "Adults? Come on, Em, we might age a little faster than humans but that doesn't mean—"

"We mature earlier too." Emmy let out a huff. "I'm sure you'd agree if you remembered being my age."

Kyle thought back to his sixteen-year-old self – the one who knew nothing about anything he was doing, whose voice hadn't even finished changing, and whose hormones had turned him into a downward spiral of self-destruction as he made decision after bad decision and would continue to well into his twenties – and pressed his hands together in front of his face in deep concern.

"Guys, seriously…" Kyle said. "I want you two to just think about this for a moment."

He would have berated them more had it not been for Chikoro dashing into the grotto and nearly crashing into him.

"Hey, uh, not to cut this short or anything." His eyes darted to Roo and Emmy in disbelief. "But someone else just arrived from the future. I think you all should come see."

"What?" Kyle said, blinking. That didn't make sense. What other allies did they have? Why now? And wouldn't Overlord have asked Kyle to come with him to get anyone they'd forgotten? He rushed out into the main clearing with Chikoro (Roo and Emmy reluctantly in tow), where everyone was already crowded in a circle around Overlord. Overlord wasn't alone, however; in front of him was someone Kyle felt like he recognized, but definitely didn't know.

The newcomer was a child, maybe eleven or twelve years old, with a Monferno body that was too big for him and a piercing, bright blue stare. He appeared unfazed by the commotion, gazing languidly around at the crowd, as if his sudden appearance was completely unremarkable. He stretched his arms above his head and flicked his tail out with a yawn.

"Who are you?" Overlord clenched his fists. So Overlord wasn't aware of this either? That made things even more confusing.

The kid smiled and brought his arms down, giving them one last stretch in front of him before he let them fall to his sides. "Your grandson."

Overlord's eyes flashed wide. "Grandson?"

"Yep!" the kid chirped, raising his hand in a mock salute. "Hi, I'm Kaze! Nice to meet you, Gramps!"


	24. Chapter 24

_AN: This is the last chapter in my backlog. It's crunch time for my final semester at uni so I can't guarantee the next update will be quick, but once I finish I'll have a lot more time to put into completing this story. With that out of the way, enjoy!_

* * *

"My name is Casey Holly, my birthday's November 18th, 2026, and my parents are Roo and Emera." The boy yawned. "But call me Kaze, okay? Is that all?"

"That is far from all." Overlord was pacing, burning a circle into the grass as he walked. "You didn't exist when I looked into the future—"

"The future changes all the time," Kaze said.

"My future self would never just drop someone off in his past self's care—"

"He can, and he did," Kaze said.

"And as far as I'm aware, Emera _hates_ that Breloom—"

"I never said they _stayed_ together," Kaze said bluntly.

Overlord stopped dead in his tracks, bringing a hand up to his chin. "I just… I don't understand. Why send one person… a child, even…"

"You say that like I can't be useful in a battle." Kaze huffed. "I can fight just fine. I got all my technique from Uncle Blue! Maybe I'm the last person you need to guarantee you win this war of yours unscathed!"

There wasn't any colour in Overlord's face, as well as, Kyle imagined, his own. Something wasn't right. All of Overlord's reservations notwithstanding, the kid's attitude was questionable. To say that Kaze was too relaxed was putting it lightly; he was acting nothing like a child conscripted for his ancestor's war. Then again, Kyle wasn't sure how someone like that _should_ act.

"It's not that I'm doubting your skill." Overlord ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm doubting you being here. My future self just wouldn't do this without an explanation."

Kaze shrugged. "Your future self said I could explain everything just fine. I'll answer whatever you want, but if you don't want to accept the answers there's nothing else I can do, you know?"

Overlord sighed into his hand. "You could give me acceptable answers."

Kaze threw his hands behind his head. "Geez. You're the same as ever."

Overlord took a deep breath. He turned around, cloak fluttering behind him as he scanned their makeshift army before settling on someone in particular. "Emera."

Future Emmy's eyes went wide. "Wha— I don't know any more about this than you do!"

Kyle grimaced. He knew firsthand how quickly a situation like this could spiral out of control, and he wasn't too keen on throwing all the blame on Emmy (or Roo, for that matter). He coughed, distracting Overlord from going through with his oncoming interrogation and catching Kaze's attention as well.

"Isn't there an easy way to check if he's telling the truth? Just go to the future and find out, right?" Kyle said.

Overlord shook his head. "The portal is gone – he's effectively severed himself from his timeline forever by coming to the past without keeping the link open. Even if I were to check, there's no way the future would be the same. The time he's from is long gone."

"The sacrifices I make." Kaze pouted. "Really though. You told me my name and my eyes would be proof enough. I should have made you write a note or something."

"Yes! Yes you should have! Just something, anything, that could confirm who you are!" Overlord let out a long breath. "But you didn't, and you can't. So what am I supposed to do with you?"

Kaze considered this, making a show of humming and hawing. "How about this? I can tell you stuff about the future, yeah?"

"It's different now though," Overlord said impatiently. "I just explained—"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that part, but I doubt my being in the past affects stuff like who becomes the next champion of Sinnoh." Kaze puffed out a cheek. "I mean, if it does somehow, I'll just think of some other trivia you can fact-check. Deal?"

Overlord clearly didn't want to accept Kaze's offer, but whether it was exhaustion or something else, he sighed and held out a hand. "Deal," he said, and Kaze shook his hand with a smug smirk plastered on his face.

"Sweet. 'Kay, so the champion who succeeds Cynthia is…"

* * *

Overlord spent the next half hour fact-checking Kaze's claims, and in the end, every single one of them turned out to be true. Kaze was lucky that his journey to the past hadn't significantly altered popular culture, considering that he had effectively erased his own existence.

"The whole butterfly effect thing isn't always so gigantic, y'know?" Kaze rolled his arms. "Some things are far more crucial than others, in the grand scheme of things. Us wild Pokémon aren't that significant to the outcomes of human politics, so it makes sense that those things wouldn't change."

"I suppose that makes sense." Overlord relented. "Though _why_ you would know that…"

"You told me," Kaze said.

"All right, so, he's proved himself or whatever, can we quit wasting time?" Chikoro said, looking grumpier than usual. "Let's get back to strategizing and preparing for this big battle!"

"Sure, sure." Kaze grinned. "Whose team am I on?"

"Mine," Overlord said without missing a beat. "Show me everything Blue taught you."

And so, slowly but surely, the commotion died down and everyone went back to their preparations. With Overlord currently occupied, Kyle wasn't sure what to do with himself; he considered checking up on Roo and Emmy again to make sure they were actually listening to him (an unlikely thought), but they seemed to have disappeared. At the very least, they hadn't returned to the grotto and he couldn't see them anywhere out in the open. After some deliberation, Kyle opted to check on Kevin and his team, since it wasn't like Kyle could do much strategizing on his own.

Kevin saw him coming and nodded to him in acknowledgement. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, just… y'know, making sure all is well." A sudden sense of uselessness washed over him. Both Overlord and his brother were taking charge, and all he could do was wander around and see how people were doing. He shook his head to dispel the thought and crossed his arms. "How fare the parents?"

Kevin grimaced for a split second before smiling far too widely. "Oh, they're great! Yeah, um, we're just working on reaction times and stuff right now."

"It's not going well, is it?" Kyle said.

"Well… no." Kevin let his hands fall to his sides.

"Eh, don't feel bad." Nick popped his head into the conversation. "Cory hasn't fought seriously in like, ten years, and the princess hasn't fought at all. It's only natural they'd be absolute garbage at dodging."

Kevin clenched his fists. "We can't afford that, though! If they get hurt—"

"It won't be _your_ fault." Nick narrowed his eyes. "We'll blame the time travellers for telling us we'd be fine, all right?" He raised an eyebrow at Kyle.

Kyle had to hold back a flinch. "You'll be fine. I promise."

Nick shrugged and stretched his arms out. "Well, it's your lives on the line too, I guess, if you really are their kids." Nick glanced over at Cory and Sunny, who were firing weak embers at each other to try and practice avoiding attacks. "I still can't really believe it, to be honest."

"But we proved it." Kyle frowned.

"No, I mean—" Nick huffed and crossed his arms. "Them. Cory and Sunny. Getting together, having kids, all that. I honestly thought Cory would leave her to become a human scientist."

Kevin went rigid, fingers digging into his palms, while Kyle's breath caught in his throat. Nick noticed their odd behaviour and let out a tired breath. "Damn it. He left the three of you, huh? That's even worse. Selfish prick."

"He… kind of had a good reason for leaving," Kevin muttered. "Well, as good of a reason as it could've been, I guess."

"Still could have taken us all with him." Sour thoughts returned to Kyle's mind as he remembered his father's explanation in that snowy field years ago. "Hell, we could have all turned human, if he was so concerned about the _horrors_ of an interspecies upbringing."

"Trust me, you don't want to be a Pokémon with a human dad," Nick said darkly. "I agree with you, though. I don't know what the hell was going through Cory's head, but I'm sorry about what happened to you and your mom. If you want, I'll beat him up for you guys after this is all over."

Kevin let out a light laugh. "Sure. Thanks Uncle Nick."

"What's this about beating me up?" Cory made his way over to the three of them, Sunny in tow.

"Nothing, just telling your kids how annoying you are," Nick said smoothly, turning around with a smile. "Guess I should get back to practice, huh?"

"Yeah, I should go find my team." Kyle flicked a thumb behind him. "Got to see how Kaze fits into our action plan now."

"About that…" Cory bit his lip. "He said his parents were… the Breloom and the young lady with the scarf?" A puzzled look crossed his features.

"Something wrong with that?" Nick raised his eyebrows. "Last time I checked, you were totally cool with Lily and I, so why would those kids bother you?"

"Shut up." Cory gave his brother a light shove. "I just could have sworn, based on their egg groups…" He shook his head. "Never mind. It's not my place to ask, especially considering my own background."

"Then don't," Nick said. "Let those kids be happy together, whether they're 'compatible' or not. It's none of your business what they do with each other."

"I wasn't making it my business!" Cory protested. "Just, from a biological standpoint—"

"God, you're the worst," Nick said. "That's it, I'm taking a break."

"You just took one!"

"Yeah, from working out. I need one from you." Nick rolled his eyes and started walking, patting Kyle on the shoulder as he went by. "Why don't we tag team for a bit, huh?"

"Uh…" Kyle blinked, turning to Kevin.

His brother shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt. I've got enough on my plate with these two." He made a grimace at their parents. "No offense."

"It's fine," Sunny said. "We know we're terrible."

Cory let out a weak groan, seemingly in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Later, loser." Nick gave Cory a mock salute and dragged Kyle away from the group.

"So, um…" Kyle sighed. "Why the sudden interest in teaming up?"

Nick snorted. "Nothing personal. I needed an excuse to get away from Cory. His so-called scientific concern over interspecies couples' sex lives is insufferable."

There was a lot to unpack with that comment. Kyle attempted, anyway. "Is he… always… weird like that?"

" _Yes_." Nick's eyes bulged. "Trust me. Shut that topic down at every opportunity."

"Duly noted." Kyle bit his lip.

Nick stared. "You really don't know anything about him, do you?"

"Well." Kyle ran a hand through his hair. "We're not completely estranged. He sends me money, and I speak to him from time to time. I know he likes science. I'm just… I'm not much of a science guy myself, so it makes it hard to get to know him. And, y'know. Old grudges."

Nick crossed his arms, a puff of air escaping through his nose. "I get it. Cory was kind of the same way with Mom. Eventually she stopped trying to understand him altogether and used me as a bridge. You can imagine how fun that was."

Having never known his grandmother (or Nick, before now), Kyle found it somewhat difficult to imagine his uncle's family dynamic while growing up. Nick didn't seem to care, though, and he went on, his gaze far off.

"I bet she would have liked Kevin," he said.

Kyle blinked in surprise. "Yeah?"

"He reminds me of her." Nick smiled, shrugging. "I mean, who knows. I'm probably just being a nostalgic sap like usual. But she always did seem disappointed we didn't like to battle nearly as much as she did."

Nick scoffed, taking an animated step to start walking again. Kyle hadn't noticed they'd stopped. "Time travel, man. Sure wrecks your efforts to move on with your life."

Something melancholy hung in the air between them, and Kyle wasn't sure what to say.

* * *

Much like his uncle Blue, Kaze seemed to be incredibly well-versed in strategy and physical technique. He flipped around with ease, shooting himself off tree trunks, the ground, and anything else he could use as a pushing off point. Watching him, Kyle thought he wouldn't look out of place in one of those travelling acrobat shows.

Nick whistled. "Wow. I don't think I've seen anything like that since Mom's league tapes."

Kaze smirked, taking a bow. "Thank you."

"You're athletic, there's no doubt there." Overlord squinted. "But you're not leaving much of an impact."

"What?" Kaze pouted, his hands going to his hips. "What are you talking about?"

"You can tell when Blue pushes off a tree. There's always an indent or a burn mark." Overlord walked up to one of the trees Kaze had used. "I'm not seeing anything. You don't weigh very much, do you?"

Irritation flickered across Kaze's face as he shrugged. "So I'm not heavy! I'm still good."

Overlord sighed. He rubbed his temple and glanced back at Kyle. "This is exhausting."

"You want to take a nap or something? I mean, you can go rest in the past or future and then come right back, right?" Kyle said.

"It's more of a mental exhaustion." Overlord sighed. "I'm… not used to dealing with kids for so long."

He folded his arms across his chest and looked down, his face flushing.

"You're doing just fine," Dream-Kari soothed. "That kid would be a handful for anyone."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Kaze gave them an exaggerated shrug, his eyes half closed. "Here, let me try again. I'll put more behind it this time."

He leapt up once more, using the tree as a spring. This time, there was an audible crack in the bark, and he shot, quite far, over to the other side of the pond. He landed gracefully, bowing again.

Overlord inspected the tree. "…This doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, come on!" Kaze turned around, grumbling.

Overlord brushed his thumb over the cracked bark. "I don't get it. Now it's like he weighs twice as much as he should. I could understand it if he were fully evolved, but…"

"So he's breaking the laws of physics?" Nick smirked. "Uh oh. Whatever you do, don't tell Cory."

Kyle blinked. He knew Nick was making a joke, but if Kaze was actually doing something that was supposedly impossible—

There was a loud splashing sound, and Kyle whirled around. Kaze was backing away from the pond, acting like he'd been scalded.

"Hey, you okay?" Kyle called to him.

"I'm— fine." Kaze stared into the water. "It's noth—"

Another splash, and Noir's head appeared above the water, dripping wet. His single eye stared at Kaze, unblinking. _"I thought there were more."_

Kaze went rigid. "What?"

 _"_ _There are more of you now than yesterday."_ Noir rose out of the pond, floating close to Kaze. _"Mama said to ignore you, but…"_

"Maybe you should listen to her." Kaze backed away, his tail stiff.

 _"_ _But—"_ Noir flinched back, turning his gaze to the ground. _"How can I ignore something like this?"_

"By going back into the shadows you came from," Kaze said, his voice sharp. "Leave us alone."

 _"_ _N-no!"_ Noir's clawed fingers clenched into fists. _"I've been waiting forever, and now there's six! And you're— You're planning something! If you don't let me stay, I'll tell Mama!"_

"Oh no, whatever will we do?" Kaze muttered, but Overlord was wide eyed and tense, watching Noir closely.

"What do you mean, there's six?" Overlord asked.

Noir let out a small squeak, a sound Kyle didn't think his species was capable of making. _"Um… Six Neros."_

"Nero? But he…" Overlord glanced at Kyle. "He's been dead for hundreds of years."

 _"_ _Oh… Nero is a person?"_ Noir shrunk back. _"I thought it was… When Mama saw the other you's blue eyes, she said he was Nero, so I thought that must have meant…"_ He sank a little into the ground.

Kaze frowned. "So you like blue-eyed Monferno too, huh?"

Noir nodded, staring at his partially-submerged shadow.

With a sigh, Kaze stretched his arms above his head. "It seems that reborn legendaries really are reincarnations, after all."

"You know a lot about this." Overlord eyed Kaze.

Kaze shrugged. "I'm just going off of what you told me, but supposedly, Lord Shade had a thing for raising people who had blue eyes. They say he liked Monferno best, because of the whole Nero thing. If this one's the same, then he's not that different from the last Darkrai at all. I mean, probably."

 _"_ _I'm not a bad person like he was,"_ Noir said. _"It's just… your eyes are really pretty."_

Overlord appeared to go catatonic, the only sign he hadn't completely frozen being his sputtering tail flame. Kaze snorted.

"If you're looking for a date, he's the wrong person." Noir blinked at Kaze, who waved a hand. "And so am I. Go try Blue, he might respond better."

 _"_ _Oh… Okay!"_ Noir took one last look at everyone before darting back beneath the ground, presumably off to find Blue instead.

Overlord regained his composure. "Did you just tell him to go after my son?"

Kaze smirked. "Relax, he's not going to hurt him. He's just lonely."

"That doesn't make it okay!" Overlord's tail sparked again. "I don't want him anywhere near—"

"I'll make sure he's all right." Dream-Kari marched off. Overlord relaxed, if only a little.

"Sheesh." Kaze's hands went to his hips again. "Talk about an overreaction."

"It's not an overreaction! That's Lord Shade, reincarnated or—" Overlord faltered. "Wait. Reincarnated… But that would imply that Lord Shade is dead."

"Mm, that was something I noticed that kind of got glossed over when we first arrived here." Kyle held his chin. "Cresselia said that the last Darkrai, Lord Shade, died like thirty years ago? So I figured she meant this dimension's version is dead, and your dimension's version is the one we're worried about."

Overlord's face was pale. "That's… concerning."

"It is?" Kyle blinked.

"There should only be one of each legendary." Overlord took a shaky breath. "They don't have alternate dimension counterparts like us."

Kyle watched him. "You're absolutely sure?"

"I'm positive. Lord Chronos kept tabs on the other legendaries' whereabouts at all times. That hidden room in the castle, the one with all the portals? That's where they documented everything. The portals would change every so often, but there were no repeated names." He tensed. "That child Darkrai shouldn't exist. Something is wrong."

The air was thick with tension. Kyle didn't know what to say; he barley knew anything about legendaries until a couple days ago. How was he supposed to come up with a theory to explain something supposedly impossible?

He blinked. There was that word again. Impossible. He flicked his eyes toward Kaze. The boy had his eyes closed, his eyebrows furrowed. Kyle wondered what he was thinking.

"Is it possible that one of them's a fake?" Nick said. Kyle twitched, startled. He'd forgotten Nick was even there.

Overlord fiddled with the clasp on his cloak. "Lord Shade… specializes in illusions. Creating an illusion of that calibre would be difficult, but…" He glanced at Kyle. "I suppose that child could be… a reanimated corpse, or something of that nature."

"How did that work, anyway?" Kyle asked.

Overlord cringed. "Well. We recreated your bodies in a ritual using your remains and some of my blood. Then Lord Shade made a show of searching for your souls in the afterlife, but I suppose he just attached living ones instead."

"Whoa, whoa. Back up a bit." Nick scoffed. "Are you talking about… necromancy?"

"I… don't know, are we?" Overlord frowned. "Lord Shade just called it magic."

Nick blinked several times and let out a puff of air. "O-kay. I thought I signed up for a legendary war, not a live action game of D&D."

Kaze snickered. All eyes turned towards him.

"It's not as if magic's an undocumented concept." Kaze smiled. "It's an age old art form that's always had ties to scientific formulae. You time travelled to get here, right? If that's possible, is blood magic such a stretch?"

Overlord closed his eyes. "…Right."

Nick's mouth twisted, and he leaned back a bit. "I guess I just wasn't anticipating creepy occult stuff."

"With a guy like Lord Shade, what you see is what you get," Kaze said bitterly. "Shall we get back to training?"

"Mm." Overlord stretched. "Nick. Would you throw a few fireballs at Kaze? I want to see how good his dodging is."

"Uh…" Nick blinked. "Yeah, sure."

Nick and Kaze got into battle positions while Overlord guided Kyle to a spot by a large oak tree to keep him out of the way. Once he was satisfied with the view he had of the other two, he gave them the go-ahead to begin. Overlord and Kyle watched for a minute or two, Kyle steadily growing more and more disinterested when he suddenly felt a small motion by his arm.

Overlord had tugged at Kyle's sleeve. "Do you think something is strange about him?" He kept his voice low, speaking out of the corner of his mouth.

"Who, Nick?" Kyle whispered, frowning.

"Kaze." Overlord continued to watch Kaze and Nick's sparring match.

Kyle shrugged. "I mean… yeah. He's pretty weird. He doesn't sound like a kid at all."

Overlord pursed his lips. "Well, I wouldn't say that."

"Really? What would you say?"

"That he sounds like a soldier," Overlord said. "Specifically, one of Lord Shade's. He has a somewhat elaborate speech pattern that's haphazardly mixed with a more casual dialect."

"Like you, then." Kyle stared at Overlord.

"I'm not very casual," Overlord said. "No, I was thinking… He sounds like my brother."

Kyle blinked. Overlord sighed.

"I… I'm not sure if I'm projecting." He clenched the edge of his cloak. "That's why I want to know what you think."

Kyle breathed through his nose, shifting his weight as he crossed his arms. "I don't really know what to tell you, man. You probably _are_ projecting a little, but… He _does_ talk pretty weirdly."

"It bothers me," Overlord said. "Emera was always defiant. She resisted all attempts to teach her to speak more formally, and she wouldn't have had those influences while she grew up in this dimension. A child of hers shouldn't have picked up these speech patterns."

"Maybe… he spent more time with you?" Kyle said.

Overlord choked back a laugh. "Why would Emera allow me to spend a significant amount of time with her child? That's just improbable."

"So, what?" Kyle squinted at the fight. "Is he not who he says he is?"

Overlord stared ahead for a long moment. Kyle was starting to think his question would go unanswered when Overlord finally spoke.

"He has blue eyes." Overlord let out a breath. "He must be related, somehow."

"I guess so." Kyle shoved his hands in his pockets.

There was another long pause. "We really are the only ones, you know."

Kyle turned.

"With blue eyes." Overlord wouldn't look at him. "They're not naturally occurring. That's why… our resemblance to Nero is so significant, I think. He's obsessed."

"If he likes blue eyes so much, why'd he bother recruiting me?" Kyle bit his lip. "In your dimension, I mean."

Overlord twitched, and he reached up to scratch his cheek. "To keep me happy."

"What?" Kyle frowned.

"They… envisioned my future, several times. With Future Sight. They said that if they took me alone, I didn't perform well. Too much emotional stress, or something like that. I was much better with you around." He paused, wetting his bottom lip, before continuing. "Maybe it would be more accurate to say you kept me complacent. I knew it was bad, what they were doing to us. But I thought, as long as I still had you, it would turn out fine in the end. I clung to that."

"But then I died," Kyle said.

Overlord coughed into his hand, and Kyle noticed his eyes water. "It wasn't… a stroke of misfortune, or an accident, or anything like that. It was a calculated, manipulated decision, and I _chose_ to—"

Overlord coughed, breaths heavy in between convulsions. He kept coughing for several seconds, and Kyle reached over, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder. Overlord doubled over, clutching his sides.

"I _killed_ you." He blinked, and a few teardrops fell onto the ground. "He told me to kill you, and I listened. I'm… I'm so _stupid_ …"

Kyle bit his tongue. He felt like he should probably retract his hand from Overlord's shoulder, recoil in disgust. Instead, he gripped it tighter.

"You were still a kid, right?" Kyle said softly. "Anyone in your position would have been—"

"You would have given up your own life to protect me. I should have done the same." Overlord sniffed. "I… I could have refused, and let him kill me. I could have stabbed myself instead. But I _didn't_. I'm a horrible brother."

"H-hey…"

"I don't deserve you." He shook his head. "After all this… All the hell I've put you through… You're still _good_. Even when you're angry with me, you're angry because you care. I don't deserve that."

"Yes you do." Kyle kept his voice firm. "You deserve it, because deep down, you're good, too."

He scoffed. "Ky, I—"

Kaze cleared his throat.

"Yeah, so." Kaze blinked at them. "I'm good at dodging, right?"

"You are," Overlord confirmed. He pulled away from Kyle's grip. "You're just fine. Excuse me for a minute."

Kyle breathed. He was fine. They were fine.

Everything was going to be just fine.


	25. Chapter 25

_AN: Oops I got a job, rip my free time. At least my wallet is happier. As usual, I can't really give a timeframe for when I'll have the next chapter up, but I'm already several pages into it. Here's hoping that's a good sign._

* * *

"How many hours is it now?"

"Two, I think?" Kyle grimaced. Today had been off to a rough start – waking up in the wee hours of the morning only to get kidnapped wasn't exactly the kind of activity he'd recommend, and running the equivalent of a marathon and puking were just a cherry on top of that unpleasant sundae. His spirits had lifted for a short while once the sun emerged and he and Overlord had returned from their recruiting trip, but the air had slowly turned from fresh to muggy, and in turn that seemed to dampen more than a few people's moods. "Are you okay?"

Vera shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters." Kyle let out a breath. "Did you talk to Ero?"

"Strangely enough, one conversation didn't cure me." She clicked her tongue and continued before he could respond. "Look, I'm sorry, I just— All I've been doing is training and waiting and having awkward conversations, and I'm sick of it."

"I get it," Kyle said. Vera rolled her eyes. "No, I do! Believe me, I can't wait until all of this is behind us. But it'll all be over soo—"

"You don't know that," Vera cut in. "We thought it was over, when we got out of the castle, but then two months later _this_ happens— It's never going to be over, is it?"

"You don't know _that_ ," Kyle said. "Please, just hold on a little longer, okay?"

"Just a little longer, just a little more," Vera spat. "I hate this."

She stalked off, and Kyle's stomach sank. He was just trying to help. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all.

"Yeouch." Kyle jolted at Nick's presence behind him. "You've got girlfriend issues too, huh?"

"What? No, it's not like that. She got tangled up in this because she's the alternate dimension version of Over— Cloak-Kevin's ex-wife. No one's dating her. Um." Kyle's stomach sank even further as he realized how much he sounded like he was in denial.

"She's single? Huh." Nick blinked. "I never would have guessed."

Kyle let out a breath. "Did you need something?"

"Uh— Right." Nick cleared his throat. "Um, Kevin – non-cloak-Kevin, that is – wanted a word?"

"A word," Kyle said.

"Look, I don't know, okay?" Nick crossed his arms. "If I had to guess, it might have something to do with the teenagers who're trying to eviscerate each other."

Kyle blinked. He got that tensions were running high, sure, but the kids wanting to hurt each other seemed a _bit_ excessive. Add that to the fact that everyone else was also on edge right now and he couldn't wait for this day to be over. He let out a breath and rolled his shoulders.

"All right, lead the way."

"This is bad," Kevin said.

Kyle felt his lower eyelid twitch. "No kidding."

It was clear that a scuffle had already begun; the remains of a few embers sparked weakly under scorched blades of grass, and some dirt had been kicked up in a way that resembled something a little more violent than regular training. And indeed, the people present looked ready to beat each other senseless. Future-Blue was holding his sister back by the shoulders, and the two Roos were a few feet apart, separated only by a near-panicky Chikoro. Well, at least now Kyle knew where Roo and Emmy were.

"I can't believe you right now!" For a second Kyle thought Future-Emmy was yelling at him, but her eyes remained focused on the two Breloom in front of her. "What we do with each other has _nothing_ to do with you—"

"Uh? Yes it does? This is _me_!" Future-Roo stuck a claw out to point at his younger self. "And I know myself well enough to say that he's a goddamn idiot who can't see the problem with screwing you. I'm just trying to help!"

"'Kay, I'm gonna split," Nick said, already dashing away. Kevin watched him, biting his lip.

"So, I don't know when this started," Kevin said in a low voice, flicking a thumb at the scene in front of them, "and I can't even begin to understand _how_ this started, but I don't think I have the power to end it."

"And you think _I_ do?" Kyle said, scoffing.

"You're the mediator!" Kevin said. "You've settled conflicts with humans acting worse than this, haven't you?"

"Well, sure, but there's a big difference between a nonhuman rights debate gone wrong and a personal conflict that's festered for years." Kyle grimaced.

"Kyle, I am—" Kevin took a deep breath. "I just want to go to sleep tonight knowing that everyone's safe and nobody got hurt, and that I did everything I could to make that happen." He exhaled. "And right now? I thought the best thing I could do was get you. Okay?"

God. They all really needed a break right now. Kyle sighed.

"Yeah, okay." He stretched his arms out in front of him and took a few cautious steps towards the scene. Blue saw him and held his sister tighter, but that only succeeded in alerting Emmy to his presence.

"Uncle Kyle, _please_ don't get involved," Emmy said as he approached. He could tell she was trying, really trying, to keep calm, but her shaking hands were starting to catch on emotionally-lit fire.

"No, let him!" Future-Roo waved his arms in a grandiose display. "If anyone on this island understands the severity of the situation, it's him!"

"What exactly is going on here?" Kyle tried, feeling a gross anxiety crawl up into his throat.

"Glad you asked!" Future-Roo brought his claws together in a clap. "See, Emera here doesn't understand that no means no and is abusing time travel to get what she wants!"

"What?!" Kyle felt his eyes bulge.

Emmy's arms engulfed in flames, and Blue held her tighter. "That's _not_ what—"

"Then how do you want to spin it, Em?" Future-Roo plucked a seed from his tail and began to spin it on his claw. "That you came back here to win and save everyone? No. You came back because there was only one thing on your mind, and your one in a million miracle baby proves it." He crushed the seed and it burst, letting out a sound like a shot from a firecracker.

"I can't see the future," Emmy growled. "I had absolutely no idea that Kaze would be here, or even exist—"

"But you wanted him to, right?" Future-Roo spat.

"Maybe I did!" Emmy glared. "Is that so terrible?"

"Do I get to say something?" Roo asked.

"No." Future-Roo's eyes narrowed.

Roo's tail slammed the ground, releasing a few spores that caught the afternoon light. Kyle stumbled back, startled. Chikoro cringed, but held his stance.

"Dude. You're super bitter, and I get that. Emmy told me, your future sucks." He took a step forward. "That doesn't mean you get to be a complete asshat and ruin things for the people trying to make the most of all the crap, y'know?"

"You're an idiot who'll fall for anything as long as it comes from a cute girl," Future-Roo said. "Trust me. I know."

"Yeah, and so what?" The frills around Roo's neck flared. "Who cares if I'm stupid? At least I'm happy!"

The older Roo flinched, the skin around his nose creasing up in pain. His arms, still trembling, fell to his sides as he took a deep breath. Kyle watched him breathe, in out, in out, until he raised his head up and spoke again.

"Happy, huh?" He shook his head, his smile not reaching his eyes. "You won't be for long, if you keep this up."

"Hey," Kyle said, finally feeling like they had reached a point where he could intervene in a meaningful way, but Chikoro was already talking over him.

"Roo, what happened? This is kinda…" Chikoro peered up at him. "I'm… worried. You're not acting like the Roo I know."

"Of course I'm not!" Future-Roo snapped. "You _died_! Kevin died! The Shades died! In a second, everyone who had ever meant anything to me was gone! How could I be the same person, after that?!"

Chikoro's eyes widened. "Roo—"

"I-I tried so hard, but I'm stupid." Future-Roo sniffed as tears started streaming down his face. "I didn't have a clue how to deal with what happened, or what to do with everyone who was left. All I knew how to do was battle, but I banged up my leg and screwed that up, too!" He choked out a sob. "What was I supposed to do, Koro? How was I supposed to act? Like I'm happy? Like Emmy's obsession with dating me is okay? Like I shouldn't take the one chance I have to keep _him_ from screwing up _his_ life?"

No one said anything. Chikoro looked like he wanted to, but couldn't, and the only other person who moved at all was Emmy, who turned her head down. Future-Roo took a shaky breath.

"S-sorry," he mumbled, also turning away. "I… I shouldn't have come here. It just made me feel worse."

"I don't think anyone's been having a good day," Future-Blue said, breaking his silence. "You're not alone."

"…Yeah," Chikoro said, glancing at Blue and Emmy, and then to the present day Roo behind him.

"I need a minute." Future-Roo pivoted and fled the scene as fast as his bad leg would carry him. Emmy looked up, eyes wide, but Blue held her shoulder, and she bit her lip and stayed put.

"I think you should go after him, Koro," Roo said in a quiet voice.

Chikoro's eyes bulged. "Wh— _Me_? Um. Okay." Face red, Chikoro trotted after him, cursing under his breath. Roo waited a few seconds, then nodded to Blue and Emmy, who nodded back, and the three of them went off in the opposite direction.

Kyle ran a hand through his hair. _God_. So much for mediation. He wasn't sure what he could have done, if he was being perfectly honest, but an explosion-turned-implosion probably wasn't the best outcome that could have happened, there. At least… nobody got hurt. Physically. Argh.

Stress, he reminded himself. Stress made people irritable and tired and mean. Stress was just something they'd have to deal with until this was all over. Kyle let out a groan. He just wanted to go to bed.

"Wow…" a voice drawled. "My dad's really letting it all out, huh?"

Kyle looked to his side, where Kaze had managed to creep up on him. Kaze's arms were stretched behind his head, and his tail flicked in a steady, languid motion. Of course. Kyle felt his eye twitch again. Everyone else was suffering, but Kaze almost seemed to be enjoying it. What a dick.

Kyle cringed. Had he really gotten to the point where he was internally namecalling dumb kids? Kaze probably didn't mean to come off as such a brat. Maybe. Kyle rubbed his temple.

"Everyone's crazy stressed. Leave Roo alone, won't you?" Kyle said.

"No need to get _angry_ with me," Kaze said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not getting angry!" Kyle huffed. "I just—" He glared.

"If you say so," Kaze hummed and took a deep breath, finishing with a refreshed exhale. "Really though. It's a beautiful day. You're all here together. But there doesn't seem to be a single one of you who's _not_ a wreck. It's kind of impressive."

All right, never mind. Kaze was unquestionably a brat.

"We were doing so well earlier," Kyle muttered, half to himself.

"Were you?" Kaze blinked.

"Well— mostly. Vera wasn't? But Kevin was okay. Even Overlord was doing better. But now even _I'm_ …" Kyle covered his mouth, dragging his hand down to hold his chin. "At least _you're_ cheery, even if it feels uncalled for."

Kaze let out a genuine laugh, but the sound was so foreign that it took a second for Kyle to process it. "I pride myself on my outlook. It's one of my best qualities." Kaze smirked. "…It helps that the air is delicious today."

"Don't know what air you're breathing. It's humid and gross." Kyle pulled on the front of his sweater, letting the fur on his neck breathe a bit better.

"Humid…?" Kaze frowned. "Ah... So it is."

Kyle eyed Kaze. In a second, the mean-spirited brat had disappeared, and in his place was a weird spacy person that Kyle didn't quite understand. How could Kaze have missed the oppressive humidity in the air? He didn't come across as absent-minded…

"It's probably Cresselia's Mist," Kaze muttered.

"Mist? No, that was cold—" Kyle bit his tongue. The heaviness of the air seemed to put pressure on his shoulders. It was almost like paying attention to it was making it worse, but that didn't make sense.

Kaze blinked at him. "What's wrong?"

"I…" Kyle shook his head. "I'm fine. Cresselia's Mist was cold, though. Not nearly as unpleasant as this."

"Freezing mist isn't the only kind there is. You don't like the heat?" Kaze said.

"Not when it's clammy." Kyle made a face. His tongue felt thick. "How do you know so much about Cresselia, anyway?"

"Gramps told me," Kaze said, folding his arms.

"Overlord wasn't there when we met her, though." Kyle frowned.

Kaze shrugged. "Maybe he went back in time and spied on you."

"He wouldn't do that," Kyle said.

Kaze guffawed. " _Wow_. You really think he wouldn't? That's funny!" Kaze threw his head back, grinning. "Really, that has got to be the funniest thing I've heard in _ages_."

Kyle blinked. The humidity curled in further the more Kaze laughed.

"I've known him longer than you have." Kaze shook his head. "He's definitely spied on you."

Kyle felt a bubble of irritation claw up his throat. The air grew muggier still. And then, like a lightning bolt, it struck him.

It wasn't the air that was muggy. It was his head.

It had been hard to pinpoint, earlier, considering the overwhelming misery hanging in the air had seeped into his own thoughts as well. But the more he concentrated, the clearer it became. The air around him was nice and fresh; he could feel it on his fingertips. Further up his arms and into his torso, however, seemed to fade into a sweltering heat, and his _brain_ — He felt hazy. Feverish. And the more Kaze poked him, the worse it got.

The more Kaze poked him.

…No. There was _no_ way.

"I… trust Overlord," Kyle found himself saying, knowing that Kaze would have ample material to retort without any trouble.

"You _trust_ him?" A mix of incredulity and amusement formed on Kaze's smirking face. "What part of you decided _that_ was smart? No wonder you died."

The heat was suffocating. Kyle's eyes burned and he felt sick. Oh. Yikes. There it was.

He needed to get out of there. Fast.

"As… fun as this is," Kyle mumbled, wiping his forehead, "I should really see if someone needs me."

Kaze shrugged. "Whatever."

Kyle blinked. "Right. Later." He shuddered and took off.

Relief didn't follow. Kyle swallowed his saliva.

 _This is okay_ , he assured himself, darting through trees and manmade hiking trails. That didn't necessarily mean the feeling was permanent. The mugginess had gotten worse once he was conscious of it, and by nature of how brains worked, it'd be a while before he'd be able to put it out of his mind. In the meantime, he just had to get out of the situation, and maybe find Overlord to try and figure out what the hell was going on. Because though Kyle felt like he had already deduced a big part of it, the details were still… hazy, pardon the pun. He bit his lip.

The muggy humid grossness was mental. Kaze appeared to be unaffected by it. And Kaze also appeared to be getting a kick out of keeping it going. How and why, he didn't know, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut. Whatever the reason, it couldn't be good.

"Where _is_ he?" Kyle muttered once he arrived at the main clearing. Most of their party was present, save for a few notable absences – Kevin and their parents were missing, as was present-day Blue, along with some of the future kids, though Kyle had just seen _them_ a few minutes ago. Overlord, of course, was gone too, because Kyle really needed that inconvenience at the moment. _Damn it_. He heard some of the grass beneath his feet sizzle and he let out a verbal swear.

"Something wrong?" someone asked, sending a shudder down Kyle's spine again. He turned, clenching his fists, to see… Vera. Oh.

"I…" Kyle cleared his throat, bringing one of his fists to his mouth to cough into. "Um. Vera. Hi. Have you seen…?"

He faltered. He had just had an encounter with Vera, and she had practically been fuming. Her body language now, though, was the complete opposite – Her arms were crossed, but casually, and her tail was making the same languid movements as Kaze's had been. He narrowed his eyes.

"Are _you_ okay?" he said. "It's just, when we last talked…" Kyle blinked. "An hour ago? You seemed upset."

"I wouldn't say I'm okay, but I took the last hour to rethink our priorities." Her hands went to her hips. "For now, I'm all right. But what about you? You look awful."

It was really small this time, and if he hadn't been in a state of hypertension he was sure he wouldn't have noticed it – the ghost of a heat-haze washed through him as soon as she said _awful_. That, combined with her acceptance of the inaccurate timeframe he threw out there… He did everything he could to avoid reacting. Oh _no_.

This was not Vera. He doubted this was even Kaze.

"Yeah, I'm actually…" Kyle wiped his forehead. "Um, I think I might be coming down with something? It's the absolute worst time for that, I know, but I thought… maybe Overlord could… help, somehow?"

"Overlord?" She frowned. "Does he know much of anything about healing?"

"I was thinking there'd be like… an instant fever cure thing developed in the future?" Kyle laughed, running his fingers through his hair. "Maybe it's a longshot, but I just thought it'd be good to ask."

"Hmm." Vera narrowed her eyes, examining him. "That's not a bad idea. We already have cures for poisoning and paralysis, after all." She smiled. "I think I saw him near the pond earlier. This way."

Oh. Oh god. Uh.

"Right." Kyle smiled, screaming internally. He followed her lead.

He had zero idea what to do right now. He had no idea where Overlord was and this… this _person_ was herding him, possibly into something bad. Could he even get out of this, without raising suspicion? He was pretty sure he had raised their suspicions already, if they weren't letting him out of their sight. His mind was on red alert, commanding him to get away as soon as possible… but how?

His heartbeat raced. Kyle's eyes darted around, looking for something, anything. In his panic, he caught Nick's eyes, and his uncle waved at him.

Kyle swallowed. Oh, he was going to have to pay for this later.

"Oh, hey, Vera!" Kyle grabbed the person's arm. For a split second, it felt weirdly thin, but the thought left him as the person turned their head, irritation flickering across their face. "Have you met Nick?"

The person blinked. "What? No, I—"

"Oh wow really that's a shame you should totally meet him you two have a lot in common!" Kyle blurted, veering the person off course and right into Nick, who made a noise of surprise.

"Kyle, what the—"

"You two have fun I'll just go check on some stuff okay bye!" Kyle barely processed his own words as he sprinted away into the woods.

 _This is bad. Bad, bad, bad._ Kyle felt himself shaking as he ran. He didn't care where he went, really, so long as it was as far as possible from that clearing. He was so disoriented that he didn't even notice a tree root and tripped over it, nearly falling on his face, but he managed to right himself on time to stop his fall. He let out a shaky breath and hid clumsily behind a tree, clutching at his chest.

He felt terrible, truly terrible, for shoving whoever the fake Vera was into Nick to deal with, but he'd have to apologize for that another time. For now, he needed to get to Overlord without any other fake muggy-haze people stopping him. Then… then everything would be okay. Right?

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut. God. He really hoped they weren't screwed.

A warm haze clouded his mind again. "God damn it," Kyle muttered, grabbing his forehead. They were screwed.

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_ said a soft voice. Kyle breathed, slowly opening one eye.

"Noir?" Kyle blinked. That was… a weird choice of person for the muggy people to pretend to be.

 _"_ _You're really scared!"_ Noir said, clenching his three-clawed hands in front of him. _"Did something bad happen to the others?"_

The hazy feeling didn't intensify, but it lingered. Kyle frowned. "No…"

 _"_ _Then what happened? Can I help?"_ Noir's giant blue eye watered.

"Um…" Kyle stepped forward from the tree. "I don't… think that's a good idea."

Noir flinched back. _"O-oh! Okay."_ He turned away, one clawed hand clutching at his arm.

Kyle breathed. "…You're not trying to make me feel worse."

 _"_ _Of course not!"_ Noir wheeled around in a huff. _"Making people feel bad is horrible! You're supposed to make them feel better, if you can!"_

Kyle stared. Noir continued to pout.

 _"_ _Mama said not to make people feel bad, no matter what. And I… I'm a good person, so I've always done the right thing. Always."_

That… felt genuine. Kyle bit his tongue. If this Noir was real, he could probably use his help. If he was another fake… Well, then he was screwed no matter what, right? He'd already tried to get away, and he was too exhausted to keep running. Even if it was risky, getting the most out of Noir's offer was looking like the only option he had. Kyle took the plunge.

"So… you have nothing to do with _this_?" Kyle gestured to his head, tapping his temple.

Noir's already large eye widened. _"Ah! N-no! I swear, it's not me!"_ Noir shrank back, part of him disappearing into the shadows of the trees.

 _He knew._ The gears in Kyle's head started to click together. "But you know what's happening to me, don't you?"

Noir stared for a second or two before nodding. _"…Yes."_

"Noir." Noir looked up. "It would be so, so helpful if you told me everything you could about this hazy feeling," Kyle said.

Noir brightened. _"Really?"_

Kyle nodded. "Really."

 _"_ _Okay, well… It's something that happens by accident sometimes,"_ Noir said. He grabbed at his arm again. _"Sometimes, when I'm hungry… Mama says I make her feel dizzy. But I make sure to stop it right away! And I definitely stopped it after I met Blue today, but I guess I might be too hungry right now to control it…"_ Noir looked down at the ground.

"When you're… hungry," Kyle said, narrowing his eyes. "So this is an ability of yours?"

 _"_ _Ah, I guess so,"_ Noir mumbled. _"Sorry."_

The final gear clicked. Kyle swallowed his saliva. Crap.

"Thank you, Noir. That was exactly what I needed," Kyle said.

Noir perked up. _"I'm happy I could help! You, um… You still feel scared, though."_

Kyle scoffed. "Yeah, I'll bet." He took a deep breath, standing up straight. "Now I _really_ need to find Overlord."

 _"_ _Overlord is Blue's father, right?"_ Noir said. _"He's with Blue right now."_

"Wh— He is?" Kyle's heartbeat flared up again. "Where?"

 _"_ _Close by. I just came from there,"_ Noir said. He began to drift into the trees. _"I can show you."_

Kyle tensed, but tried his best to disregard it. No, Noir was being genuine, unlike— It was safe to follow him. It had to be.

…And even if it wasn't, Kyle was desperate enough to take the risk.

"Sure," Kyle said.

He followed Noir through the trees, marvelling at how the image before him was so misaligned with the actual situation. Here he was, following a creepy floating deathmonster deep into the woods of his own volition. It was something he never thought he'd do, and certainly not with this much optimism. Kyle just hoped his faith wasn't misplaced.

When he saw his first glimpse of Blue sitting under a low-hanging oak branch, he audibly sighed in relief. He dashed up in front of Noir, the sound of his feet crunching over the twigs and grass alerting his nephew to his presence.

"Uncle Kyle? And… Noir," Blue said, looking up. Noir turned away to avoid Blue's gaze.

"Blue," Kyle panted. "Your dad. Where's—"

"Right here." Overlord emerged from a shadowy corner of trees. "What's the matter?"

"He's here," Kyle said, shaking. "Lord Shade."

He didn't know why voicing it made the realization all the more powerful, but it did. Kyle felt his breathing grow heavier, and he clutched at his chest again.

"What? No, he can't— We should still have a couple hours," Overlord said. He walked up to Kyle and grasped his shoulders to hold him steady.

"Listen." Kyle swallowed again, trying his best not to panic. "He's pretending to be people in our group, like Kaze and Vera, but he's going around and… There's this hazy thing, in all our heads, he's the reason for that, and the worse you feel, the better he feels. I think that's it, anyway."

"Hazy—" Overlord stepped back, eyes widening. "He's _feeding_ on you? And you _noticed_?"

Kyle cringed. "Um, I guess?"

Overlord released him to rub at his own forehead. "Dear lord. If he's not even being subtle about it, we're in trouble."

"I don't think he expected me to figure it out," Kyle said. He grimaced. "I, uh… kinda ran, though, so he definitely knows I know now."

"You ran from him." Overlord said it like a statement, and shook his head. "Only you, Ky, I swear."

There was a pause. Kyle felt his heart thrum in his chest.

"What do we do?" Blue poked his head out from under the oak branches.

Overlord fiddled with the clasp of his cloak. He closed his eyes, breathing steady, before letting his hands drop to his sides. "We fight." He looked up, eyes burning with a fierceness Kyle wasn't used to. "That's what we said we'd do, and that's what's going to happen. I'm not backing out now."

Kyle gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, man."

Overlord's cheeks flushed. "That's the second time in— Just call me Overlord."

Kyle snorted. Overlord didn't look at him.

"Where did you leave Lord Shade?" he asked, preparing his hand to make a portal.

"Um, the main clearing," Kyle said. He felt his stomach drop. "With everyone else."

Overlord balked. Kyle waved his hands in front of him maniacally.

"I'm sorry, okay? I panicked! I think that stupid head-haze amplified all the terrible crap going through my brain."

"Okay… It may be too late already, but if it is, I promise I'll go back and fix it," Overlord said, steeling himself. He turned back to the space in front of him. "I'm going to make a portal to the main clearing, a second into the future. Kyle, Blue, run through as fast as you can, and be prepared for what you might see."

Kyle shut his eyes and nodded. "Right."

 _"_ _What about me?"_ Noir said.

Overlord bristled. "You…"

"You should hide, Noir," Kyle said. He gave Noir a sympathetic smile. "You've helped enough."

Noir shrunk back into the shadows once again. _"…Okay. Good luck."_ He disappeared from view.

"Ready?" Overlord said. Kyle and Blue nodded. "Okay. Here we go."

They stumbled through the portal into a confrontation, but not the one they were expecting.

"Kyle!" Vera's voice was shrill, reaching the pitches usually reserved for the Monferno language. Everyone else aside from Nick was giving her a wide breadth. "Finally! Someone reasonable! Get over here!"

Kyle blanched. "Um… is everything okay?"

"No, it is not!" She spat out flames. "Your jackass uncle won't leave me alone!"

"I'm just concerned, okay?" Nick said, the corners of his own mouth hinting at steam. "You were acting really weird when Kyle shoved you into me, so I—"

"That didn't even happen!" Vera seethed. "Stop trying to gaslight me!"

"Gaslight? What—" Nick glared. "I would never do something so disgusting—"

"Okay, okay!" Kyle darted between them, arms out. "Chill! Vera, when did we last speak?"

Vera frowned. "What? I don't know, twenty minutes ago?"

Kyle turned to Nick. "What did you say to me about twenty minutes ago?"

Nick blinked. "I— I told you about the fight between the kids, and… something about her being single?"

The corner of Kyle's mouth twitched. "…Right. You're both the real ones."

"Real ones?" Vera's voice returned from the high pitch, getting low and dark. "What are you talking about? Was there a fake me?"

"Yes," Kyle said. He narrowed his eyes. "I think it was Lord Shade."

Vera's eyes widened. "He's here?"

"You shoved an evil legendary into my arms and ran away?" Nick choked.

Kyle gave them a wide smile, hoping to mask his returning panic. "Yes… to both. Sorry."

"Forget about that for now," Overlord said. He marched to the center of the clearing, cloak sweeping behind him. "Everyone, we need to do an urgent headcount. Who's not here?"

"Kevin and your parents are by themselves—" Vera began, but before she could finish Overlord had made a portal and was dragging the three of them through it into the main clearing, ignoring their protests.

"Who else?" He looked at Vera.

"I— Some of the kids, um, Blue and Emmy from the future?"

"And Chikoro and the two Roos," Kyle added.

Overlord made more portals. He stuck both arms through, pulling bodies out of them like a magician pulling objects out of an endless top hat. Chikoro made a vulgar noise of protest as he was pulled through. "Anyone else?"

"Kaze," Kyle said. He narrowed his eyes.

"No, I'm here," Kaze said from right behind him. Kyle jumped, whirling around. "What's up?"

Kyle's heart was going to burst. He tugged at his sweater, staring down the wide-eyed boy. Kaze's arms were behind his head, but the hazy feeling wasn't present. Kyle stared, on guard.

"What indeed," Overlord said, slicing his portals shut in one flick of his wrist. "Lord Shade is on this island."

Kevin shot up, taking on an aggressive stance. "What? According to you, we're supposed to have a couple hours left!"

"Evidently, their plans changed," Overlord said. His face scrunched up. "That probably happens a lot, when time travel is involved."

" _Probably_?" Kevin's arms twitched.

"Focus!" Overlord growled. He pointed at his head. "Focus everything up here. Does anyone feel gross? Hazy, muggy, that kind of thing?"

"I was… earlier," Vera said. "I thought I just had a fever."

"I had a migraine," Kevin said. His eyes darted between Vera and Overlord. "It cleared up a little while ago."

People began to murmur in agreement. "I just feel terrible," Kyle caught Future-Roo say in a scratchy voice.

"Damn it." Overlord's voice was small. "You were right, Ky. He realized you figured him out. He's taking extra care to hide himself, now."

"There has to be something we can do. We can't just wait for him to pop out of one of our shadows," Kyle said.

"I can go back," Overlord said. "I'll go back to the point where he was impersonating Vera, and I can—"

 _"_ _You will do no such thing."_

A chilling mist washed through the clearing, hovering a few inches above the ground and engulfing the space between the distant trees. Cresselia entered the clearing, peering down at them all through her jewel-like pink eyes. Underneath her, submerged in the ground and almost unnoticeable, save for a flash of a cyan eye, was Noir.

 _"_ _I could tolerate the other riffraff coming here to play make believe_ ," Cresselia said. She veered in, coming to a close stop in front of Overlord, and eyed him critically. _"I do not tolerate anyone who treats the fabric of space-time like their plaything."_

"Friggin' A," Kevin muttered. He put his hands to either side of his mouth. "Yo! Asswipe!"

Cresselia turned to him, face scrunched into a fierce glare. _"_ _You_ _again—"_

"You didn't care the first thirty times the freaky portals showed up! Why start now?" Kevin lowered his hands. "Honestly!"

 _"_ _Had I known, earlier, what was transpiring, I would have stopped it much sooner."_ Cresselia scowled. _"However, Noir neglected to inform me until now."_

"Oh, okay, blame your kid, I see how it is. Grade A parenting there." Kevin bared his teeth. Kyle felt the haze bubble up into his head again and whipped around, trying to place the source. "And I thought Kyle took the award for worst parent when he left Little alone on Mount Chimney."

"H-he left him with me!" Vera said, tensing.

"You're not the greatest mom either," Kevin said, voice low.

Where was the mugginess coming from? If Lord Shade was here and they were fighting, they were going to… going to…

"How _dare_ you!" Vera snarled. "You've done nothing but judge me ever since we met! Did you ever stop to think that you have _no idea_ what I've been through—"

Kyle caught Noir's eye – Oh. Of course. Noir was here, and hungry. That was why— they were fine.

"Look, _sweetheart_ ," Kevin's tail blazed, "I don't need to know your life story. All I need to know is that you were down to throw yourself at Kyle the second he asked and then ditched the resulting kid!"

" _What_?" Overlord's tail snapped, and he looked between Vera and Kyle rapidly. "When did— Ky?"

The heat was suffocating. Noir rose out of the ground, trembling.

"Shut up!" Vera shouted. "I did _not_ ditch Little, I told Kyle what happened—"

"Well, no one told _me_ —"

"Well no _wonder_ everyone hates me!" Vera turned to glare at Kyle. "I can't believe you never explained! This whole time, you let them think I abandoned a baby?!"

"I…" Kyle felt woozy. He scrunched his eyes shut. "Guys, Darkrai is…"

Cresselia scoffed. _"Noir, control yourself. This is bothersome enough without listening to their ridiculous dram—_ augh!"

There was a shockwave of energy that sent Kyle flying a few feet backwards. Cresselia's telepathy had been voiceless, but her cry of surprise was not. Kyle opened his eyes. Cresselia was coughing, sputtering, with blood dripping down her chin and a hole through her upper chest. In front of her was Kaze, his left arm morphed into a sharp, black, and bloodied point.

 _"_ _M-mama!"_ Noir cried, rushing to her side.

"Oops," Kaze said. With a flick, his arm was an arm again, still stained with blood.

 _"_ _You!"_ Cresselia coughed. _"Nero!"_

"Not quite." Kaze's expression darkened. "I'm disappointed. You should remember more about your victims. Nero's face was nicer. And he was… Oh, I don't know, about this old?"

In an instant, the child claiming to be Kaze was taller, leaner, and had a distinctly young adult face.

 _"_ _Dark… Dead…!"_ Cresselia was having trouble floating. With one last waver, she fell to the ground, still sputtering.

"Yes, well. You were mistaken. Normally I'd take the time to brag about how I outfoxed you, but I'd rather you die not knowing the details." Darkrai shrugged. "Instead…" He turned to Noir.

"Look at you, you poor thing." Darkrai caressed Noir's cheek. "She's kept you so underfed, the monster."

 _"_ _Th-that's my mama,"_ Noir stammered.

"Yes, I know," Darkrai cooed. "I'm so sorry. It must have been wretched to live with her all this time, but she insisted, and, well, I couldn't exactly come out of hiding to take you away, could I?"

 _"_ _M-mama…"_

"Shhh." Darkrai wiped a tear from Noir's watering eye. "It's all right. Feel that?" He gestured to Cresselia's gasping form. "The horror? The _pain_?" A sliver-thin grin shot too far up his cheek, and his entire face contorted into something akin to a paper cutout, almost two-dimensional.

"Soak it in. You'll feel so much better. Trust me."

"Kyle." Overlord was at his side, grabbing his shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll—"

"No you won't." Darkrai flung a black orb at Overlord, hitting him square in the face. The orb encapsulated him for a second before disappearing. Overlord collapsed.

"I thought I raised you better than this," Darkrai said. "Cresselia thinks she is all light and good, but she's a terrible person. She deserves to die."

"Nobody deserves to die!" Blue said, charging forward. Darkrai shot another orb at him, and he collapsed, too.

"Here's the deal," Darkrai said. His left leg turned into a black spike, and in one quick movement, he slashed Cresselia's throat. She gave one last feeble twitch before she lay completely still. "I have been planning this for over thirty years. You're all very cute to think you could put a wrench in that, but in the end you gave me a better opportunity than I'd ever hoped for." His leg turned back to normal. He smiled, hoisting Cresselia's corpse into his arms. "Celebi, dear."

A bright blue portal was carved into the sky, and Celebi emerged from it, holding a weathered-looking ocarina carved out of a deep blue material.

"As thanks, I won't involve you all any further. Take a nice rest. We'll be off now."

Celebi pressed their lips to the instrument. A haunting warble came out of the flute, sending an even colder unsettling chill through Kyle's body. As the short melody came to a close, several transparent, glowing platforms – a staircase, Kyle thought – descended from the portal in the sky. Darkrai grinned. His disguise dropped, revealing his true form once more, tattered shoulders billowing in the otherwise windless clearing.

Kyle stood. He had to—!

 ** _"_** ** _I said to take a rest."_** Darkrai freed one arm, conjuring up another bigger black orb. **_"Goodnight."_**

The darkness slipped over him, and Kyle was robbed of all his breath.


	26. Chapter 26

_AN: A tough chapter to write for a lot of reasons, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Here we go._

* * *

He woke up in the middle of… Well. He wasn't sure where, exactly.

 _Dark Void_ , the thought came to him. _We're in Dark Void again._

Dark Void… The name sure fit. It was pitch dark, darker than he'd ever seen before. The walls – at least, they might have been walls, this space seemed enclosed – were fuzzy, staticky, like the pattern he saw behind his eyelids when he couldn't sleep. His eyes… were open, right? It was hard to tell. He couldn't even see himself, and his tail light—

Wasn't there. Um.

There was only one place he could think of where he'd be conscious without any fire around him.  
 _  
Dark Void? That's not right. This is a Pokéball_ , he thought.

 _It's Dark Void_ , he insisted.

 _It's— no._ Kyle was getting irritated. _Who is this?_

There was no response for a moment.

 _Ky?_

Oh, Overlord. Okay. That was weird, but okay.  
 _  
That is_ _not_ _my name,_ he thought. _Why would you even_ _think_ _of calling yourself that?_

 _What? No, I'm not— Sorry. Kevin._

 _Kyle._

 _What?_

 _My name. It's Kyle._

A pause. _Isn't it?_

 _I…_ Kyle faltered, unsure. _But…_ _I'm_ _me?_

 _I'm Kyle Holly._

 _Well, I am too!_

 _How old are you?_

Three separate answers engulfed him at the same time, making him dizzy.

 _You can't be three at once. That's not right._

 _I think… I get it now,_ someone thought, someone who probably wasn't him. _Let me see if I—_

Kyle took a gasp of breath. He hadn't even realized he'd stopped breathing.

"Which one are you?"

Kyle looked up. They were no longer in a void, but in a small, dusty cave – Him and Overlord. Right? Kyle squinted at the person in front of him, but it was hard to make out any details.

"I'm… Kyle?"

"The Shade?"

"Yeah."

Overlord seemed to narrow his eyes and nodded at the ground. "So we're in the same nightmare…"

"This is a dream?" Kyle looked around him. Everything seemed normal. No exit to the cave, but that was fine. Safe, even. Kyle blinked, wondering why he'd even thought that. "How do you know?"

"Ky got really good at finding tells over the years." Overlord placed what looked like a finger to his temple and tapped it. "How old are you always seems to work for me. If I can't answer, or if I get different answers, then we're split up here. That only happens in Lord Shade's Dark Void."

Kyle frowned. "Sorry, I'm not following. Why's your brain split?"

The entire fuzzy form that was Overlord got even fuzzier. "I… N-no, that's not…"

With a sudden, striking clarity, a cloakless Overlord came into focus, his fists clenched and tail flickering. "We're in Dark Void. It's… _designed_ … to mess with your head. You're not real. I don't have to answer you." Overlord stood. He should have hit his head on the cave ceiling, it was so low, but in a blink the cave had rearranged itself to be roomier. Kyle stared.

"What are you— I'm real!" Kyle stood too, crossing his arms. "Come on, you've gotta tell me what's going on! We have to—" Get out of here. Kyle's head hurt. Oh god, this was the hazy feeling all over again, wasn't it?

"No, you're not." Overlord laughed. "You never are. I lost you a long time ago, and you're just the remnants of the _idea_ of a person— I know how this works!" He was smiling too widely, tapping his temple again. "So get back in here, you stupid ghost."

Kyle's jaw went slack. "Are you okay?"

"I'm in a nightmare, do I look okay?" Overlord bared his teeth. "Look, just— Give me your tail already, I don't have time for this part!"

Overlord grabbed Kyle's tail and yanked it towards him. Kyle squawked, stumbling forward from the sudden force. Before he could steady himself, Kyle was overcome with a paralyzing sensation; his appendages lost all feeling and it felt like his entire sense of self was curling up, tighter and tighter into a tiny, dense ball—

Overlord released his tail, shaking. "What the—" He gasped. " _What_ just—"

Kyle doubled over, grasping his knees. His tail sparked in weak protest. "How'm I supposed to know, man? You're the one who did it, aren't you?"

"That's the third time you've called me—" Overlord stopped, raising a hand to his temple again. His cloak had reappeared. "Hold on, now I'm… But you're still here?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kyle glared. "If you were trying to shove me out of the nightmare or something, you could've been a little more polite about it."

Overlord stared, wide eyed. "Ky…?"

"Yeah?" Kyle stood straight again, rolling out his shoulders.

"What's… the last thing you remember, before this?" Overlord said.

Kyle grimaced. Flashes of blood and cut-out smiles fought for his attention, but he willed himself to not remember those parts too clearly. "Darkrai and Celebi taking Cresselia's body up a literal stairway to heaven? He threw one of those black orbs at me." Kyle glanced at Overlord. "Dark Void, I guess? He was all gloaty that he was letting us live."

"I… see," Overlord's hands went to his cloak-covered shoulders. "So then… we really did end up in the same nightmare?"

"Isn't that what you said before you lost it?" Kyle deadpanned.

"Yes, but— No, see— Usually, you're…" Overlord waved a hand in front of himself. "Forgive me. Dark Void usually conjures up a cheap imitation of you, and I wasn't really lucid until just now, so…"

"You said you were split up here?" Kyle gestured to his head. "Is that fixed now?"

Overlord flinched. "I said that?"

"Yeah. To be honest…" Kyle frowned, rubbing his own temple. "I felt kind of weird, earlier. Like there were three people talking in my head. And then one of them did something, and then…" Kyle made a face at the rock walls encircling the two of them. "Well, here we are."

"Three people?" Overlord blinked. "Hm."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, then turned to the wall. He felt along the rock, holding out for the off chance that there was a hidden switch or something that would open up an escape route. His forehead twinged in pain, and he stopped to rub his face. "God, every time I think about trying to leave, it hurts."

"That's Dark Void," Overlord said, coming up behind him. "It doesn't really appreciate when its victims try to exit early, I'm afraid."

Kyle clicked his tongue in distaste and whirled around, focusing on the floor. Maybe there'd be an exit there? He ignored the pain in his head as he knocked his heel against the ground to check for hollow spots. "Some nightmare, though. What is this, claustrophobia? I'd put a few other things above that on my list of biggest fears."

"Ah, you probably shouldn't—"

"Ow, frick!" Kyle winced as he brought his foot down onto some shards of broken glass that weren't present a second ago. He hopped back on one foot and leaned against the wall, cradling his now bleeding foot.

"…Give it ideas," Overlord finished. He eyed the glass on the floor.

Kyle took a heavy breath. "So there's no way out of here?"

"You'll wake up eventually. Until then, no." Overlord leaned beside him.

Kyle slumped down until he was sitting on the floor. "So."

"So." Overlord copied him.

"What do we do?" Kyle poked at his foot. There were a few tiny pieces of glass still suck in his heel and it was making him feel sick, so he began to remove them as carefully as possible. "Is that it? Darkrai kills Cresselia, the end?"

Overlord shrugged.

"Come _on_." Kyle glared. "We can go back and try again, right? Catch him off guard before he can—"

" _Why_?" Overlord tensed. "He didn't kill any of your friends this time, and none of you even care about Cresselia, so why bother? Just be grateful he showed mercy and forget about it!"

"I can't do that," Kyle said. "Look, I can't— I know it seems like there's no better outcome here. And I get it. It'd be so easy to just let Darkrai win and forget about his stupid legendary war."

Kyle turned his body to face Overlord. "But I _also_ know that if I want something to change, I need to fight to make it happen. And I know I want this to change. He's still got power over you – over all of us. I get the feeling that he's not going to stop after one murder. Not if he's been raising an army."

Overlord shuddered, curling up close to himself. Kyle shook his head. "You know what that staircase is, don't you? It's not good, is it? Can you honestly tell me that it's okay to just let it go?"

 _As long as you're safe, I don't care what happens._

It was a powerful thought. Kyle could hear the words reverberate in his mind. His center of gravity seemed to lurch, not unlike the sensation he'd gotten used to months ago, but he stayed in the same position. His brother didn't react.

"Don't say stuff like that." Kyle's voice spoke someone else's thoughts. He touched his throat, and the voice went on. "I don't want to hear you be all self-sacrificial."

"I'm the older brother, aren't I?" Kevin's voice was younger, softer.

"We're in this together," Kyle's voice stressed. "We made a _promise_."

Kevin's tail flickered, and he winced. "You're ri—"

The tiny cave disappeared. Their surroundings morphed into the staticky void once again.

"God damn it," Overlord muttered. Kyle's arms involuntarily clutched at his shoulders.

"…Hey," Kyle tried. After discerning he was in control of his own voice again, he continued. "What was that?"

"A nightmare," Overlord answered. Kyle squinted. He couldn't see anything again, and it was difficult to tell where Overlord was in relation to him.

"Not a memory, then?" Kyle hesitated. "You seemed… younger, for a second."

 _No_ , Kyle thought, his tone defensive. He frowned.

 _How old are you?_ he tried, prepared for another onslaught of dizziness. Three answers, three distinct thoughts. 31. 29. 15.

The thought got fuzzy, and he almost forgot it, but he held on. "15," he said. "Who's 15, here?"

 _You are_ , he – Kevin thought, crossing his arms.

"Shut up, Kev," Kyle growled. "15. Who are you?"

 _I told you already._

The void disappeared, replacing itself with Overlord's red and gold parlour. Overlord sat on a chair, scowling with one knee up and his cloak askew.

"That's _not_ my name."

"Sorry," Kyle said. He grimaced. "That's who you look like."

Not-Overlord rolled his eyes. "What kind of person calls himself Overlord? Why insult yourself like that?"

Kyle opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, distracted by another thought. "Sorry, who are we talking about?"

Not-Overlord said something that sounded like the words "me" and "you" at the same time. The Monferno in the chair winced in pain, holding his head in his hands.

Unsure what to do, Kyle moved to the chair, placing a gentle hand on the other Monferno's shoulder. "…Kev?"

"How are you _there_?" The Monferno stared at him, wide eyed. "You're not even fuzzy. But if that much of me is missing, how am _I_ here?"

Kyle took a breath. Okay. He squeezed himself beside the other Monferno on the chair, and it suddenly became wide enough for two people just as he sat down. He turned, staring the other Monferno right in the eyes.

"Listen to me, okay? You're— I'm _pretty sure_ you're Kevin. The Kevin who I call Overlord, which is not a great nickname and I apologize. I really should have come up with something else. You're not Kyle. That's me."

"You can't be Kyle. Kyle's dead," the Monferno grumbled.

Kyle blinked. "By that logic, you can't be Kyle either." He smirked. "But no, I'm alive. I'm not the Kyle you knew growing up, but I'm Kyle."

"Ohhh." The other Monferno nodded in what seemed like a childish understanding. "I see now. You're _only_ Kyle."

"I'm— What?" Kyle blinked. The room reinvented itself once again, into a red rock cavern that was… his room, back at HQ, complete with his wristwatch alarm clock and tattered door-sheet. Kyle squinted at the doorway. Had Overlord even seen his room?

"So you don't remember." Kyle turned back to the other Monferno and felt his heart jump. For a second he thought he was staring at Future-Little, but the other Monferno was too young for that – he had to be staring at a younger version of himself.

"…Don't remember what?" Kyle said after a long moment.

"Don't feel bad. It's hard for me to remember, too." Young Kyle brought his tail in front of his face to frown at it. " _Especially_ in Dark Void, where it's almost impossible to make my thoughts connect. It's like oil and water." He flicked his tail, and the orange flames turned into swirls of violet and green. Young Kyle smiled.

Kyle stared. His younger self giggled.

"You try it, too." He flicked his tail again.

Kyle hesitated, but he gave his tail a tiny flick. The flames became drenched in purple. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"One colour means one person," Young Kyle said. "And two means two! Three people. See, that wasn't hard, was it, Kev?"

The room went stark gray, and Kyle prepared for their return to the staticky void once again. The change didn't come, however, and the room slowly filled with colour once again. The Monferno beside Kyle was now the unmistakable image of Overlord, cloak and all.

"I knew what it was. That wasn't the issue." Overlord spoke in a quiet whisper, leaning over his knees. His tail flicked in a languid rhythm, more green than purple, but still a mix of the two.

"You're two people," Kyle said. He stared at the purple and green flames. "You and… your brother."

Overlord winced. "Yeah. I guess if you boil me down into my basic ingredients, that's what you'd get."

Kyle stared. Overlord sighed.

"Did anyone ever tell you about the Monferno marriage ceremony?"

"Uh— A little." Kyle blinked. "Ero said it involved mixing tail flames."

"Mm. To be more accurate," Overlord's tail flicked, "it involves fusing souls."

Kyle balked. " _Um_?"

"On the mountains, it traditionally became a ceremony used for romantic contexts, but it's actually much broader than that." Overlord cringed. "For two brothers who had no one but each other, it became a promise. That we'd always be there for each other, no matter what."

The room faded, replacing itself with blurry afterimages of a sun-drenched landscape that Kyle didn't recognize. "It brought us closer, and for a while, it helped. It was a lot easier to believe things would turn out all right back then. But it wasn't enough. I still had nights where I was hopeless. I still honestly wanted to die."

The room was a black void, no static in sight. Just a purple flame, and a purple-green mix of one.

"When I killed you, I intended to kill myself right after. I was… in a terrible place." The two-coloured flame mixture flickered. "But when you died, it was like… It felt like I was physically being torn apart. And I think… I think that sensation brought me to my senses enough for me to realize what I was doing. It's like your soul did everything it could to keep me alive."

Overlord breathed. "And I didn't want to tell you any of that, because I was terrified of what you'd think. But that's what Dark Void wants, isn't it?"

* * *

Kyle was awake. For real, this time.

He could feel the prickly texture of cool grass beneath him, the weight of his limbs resting on the ground. He could feel little things; a slight breeze, the quiet ache of his tail bent in an uncomfortable position under his thigh. Little reminders that he was physical and existed in reality, in a way that wasn't apparent in a dream. He sat up, opening his eyes.

"Ah!" Stella pulled back just in time to avoid knocking their heads. "Boss! Are you okay?"

"I think so?" Kyle glanced around. They were still in the clearing, though it looked like the sun had just about set. Stella and Ero were sitting next to him. Most of the others were standing, speaking in hushed whispers, while Kevin was off on his own, the grass under his feet hissing gray smoke. Future Emmy was huddled over who Kyle could only assume was Blue. There was no sign of the staircase or any of the legendary Pokémon, even Noir. "Is Over— Uh, Cloak-Kevin, is he okay?"

Stella pursed her lips. "He's… conscious."

Kyle shot up from his spot on the ground. "Where is he?"

"There he goes again," Ero muttered under his breath. "Don't you even care about what happened while you were out?"

Kyle tensed. "He's the only one who knows what to do about that stairway," he said, choosing his words carefully. "I need to speak to him right away."

Ero sighed and jabbed a thumb behind him. Kyle nodded and brushed past, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else. He… he understood his friends' feelings. He wasn't a complete idiot. But he couldn't just leave Overlord alone, after ending the nightmare on that note. He wasn't a _monster_.

He smirked to himself in bitter irony as he found Overlord curled up under a wiry birch tree. Kyle could tell he wasn't holding up well. Huddled over his own body with his knees up against his chin, Overlord looked more like a sullen teenager than anything. Kyle flopped down next to him, glad that at least this time there was no glass stuck in his heel.

"Hey," Kyle said after a moment of silence.

"Why are you talking to me?" Overlord said, almost too quiet to hear.

"Why do you think?" Kyle gave him a drôle smile. "Come on. By now you should've figured out that you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Overlord rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Kyle stretched his legs.

"Was that really your biggest fear?" Kyle said, hesitating before pressing on. "Me knowing about…" He glanced at Overlord's tail.

"I anticipated a far worse reaction." Overlord sighed into his knees. "If… If the real you hadn't hijacked my nightmare, I'm sure I would've gotten one."

Kyle had no idea what to say. _Hey, no problem, man, it's cool_ would've been his standard response, but after everything that happened in Dark Void he wasn't sure if that was the best thing to say to Overlord. But… it really _wasn't_ a problem. Kyle wasn't sure what Overlord was expecting – disgust, fear, anger? Kyle didn't know anything about magical, soul-fusing rituals, but it sounded – no, _felt_ – like it was the best thing for Overlord and his brother to do. Maybe it was the aftereffects of sharing a nightmare with Overlord, but something in Kyle's gut told him he could trust in that.

"Why are you so afraid of broken glass?" Overlord said, his voice not much louder than a whisper.

Kyle blinked. "You don't know?"

"Why would I?" Overlord said.

"You knew about Canalave," Kyle said. "So I guess I just assumed…" That he'd been spying. Like Darkrai had suggested. Kyle felt a gross bitterness in his mouth.

Overlord shook his head with a weary smile. "All I know is what you've made public. Like that biography."

"Haha, oh, that thing?" Kyle cringed. "Yeah, uh, word of advice, never sign a book deal when you're sixteen."

Overlord's smile grew. "At least you had the sense to leave the important things out," he said.

"Yeah really." Kyle raised his eyebrows. "But… to answer your question? It's not… It's just kind of your basic traumatic experience, I guess." He clutched the fabric of his sweater in front of his chest. "I was stuck in that lab and desperate to get out, so I tried breaking a window, and like a dumbass I fell on top of the broken shards. Gave me a punctured lung and a gnarly scar to show for it. I hated looking at myself after that, so, sweater."

"So it wasn't to make some sort of statement to humanity?" Overlord said.

"That's a convenient bonus," Kyle said, lip curling as he recalled Little's leather jacket. He released his grip on his sweater. "I'm just glad none of my doctors ever decided to break patient confidentiality for fifteen minutes of fame."

"I stabbed you in the same spot," Overlord mumbled.

Kyle froze.

"S-sorry…" Overlord turned pink. "I didn't mean to say that out loud. I just… When I first brought you to my dimension, you knew you were supposed to have a chest wound. And that's why, despite everything else you did and said, I thought you had to be my brother. Because I stabbed you. Right there."

Kyle took a deep, pained breath.

"Okay. Real talk, dude." Kyle's eyebrows creased as he turned to face Overlord. "I forgive you."

Overlord shuddered. "But I—"

"Have terrible guilt! I know. I get it." Kyle shook his head. "The things Darkrai made you do were awful. Some of your own decisions were also pretty bad. It's all right. You feel remorse. You're trying to be better. That's all you need to do, okay? You don't have to bring up all the bad stuff at every possible opportunity."

"But—"

"I forgive you." Kyle pointed at himself, then at Overlord's tail flame. " _He_ forgives you. The person I met in that nightmare was at peace. And he's part of you, so I know you have it in you to accept it and forgive yourself. You can let the past be, and move on."

"Move on?" Overlord scoffed, lifting his head up to glare. "How can I do that, when my decisions have had such horrible consequences? You're not the only one I've hurt. Vera, Blue, Em—"

"So apologize to them!" Kyle said. "If they forgive you, great! If they don't, that's fine too, we can work past that! But wallowing like this forever isn't going to make anything better!"

Overlord gave him a flat look. "It's not like I can just decide to stop being sad."

"I— Yeah, I know." Kyle bit his lip. "But… You're stuck in a hole, and I'm dangling you a branch, right? Can you at least try to grab it?"

Overlord stared. He let out a long, ragged breath.

"Without you, I don't know who I'd be, and the thought of that terrifies me." He looked Kyle in the eye. "You've already done more to help than you think."

"Glad to hear it," Kyle said. "But I'm not giving up halfway. I'll dig you out of this hole with my bare hands if I have to."

Overlord snorted, rubbing at his face. "I think your metaphor's getting lost."

Kyle just shrugged, and after a moment, narrowed his eyes. "So. That heavenly staircase."

"You're not far off, calling it that," Overlord said. His voice was bit stronger, though the rest of his body was still closed off. "They played a song on a flute, right? That's how they bridge the Hall of Origin to the mortal world in the legends."

"The Hall of— Hold on, I think I've heard of that." Kyle frowned, squinting at the treetops in an effort to remember. "It's in a couple of creationist religions, isn't it? Where everything began?"

"Whether it's where everything began or not, I don't know," Overlord said. "But it _is_ where Arceus slumbers until he's needed."

"Wait, so they're—" Kyle blinked. "Oh shit, God's real?"

Overlord stared at him, mouth slightly open. "Did we… not discuss this earlier?"

Kyle stared.

"I…" He faltered. "I thought you were just… Very. Spiritual. Um." Kyle's chest suddenly felt very hollow. "Frick, man. That's a lot to process."

" _That's_ the one you're having a hard time with?" Overlord's shoulders loosened as he squinted at Kyle. "Out of everything I've said, Arceus being real is the hardest for you to accept?"

"I mean, _kinda_?" Kyle chewed the inside of his cheek. "The idea of some omniscient, all-powerful being, judging people based on some rigid values that haven't changed for centuries? As someone who fights to change a lot of those values, that's a little hard to reconcile."

Overlord frowned. "It's less based on some rigid morality than whatever his whims are. Apparently, he's rather flippant." His pupils flicked to the side. "Not that I've met him."

Kyle let out a breath.

"So they went to see Arceus." He squinted. "That sounds bad."

"It has the potential to be," Overlord said, "as any messy family reunion does. I believe the goal is to knock Arceus down from his godly pedestal, at the very least. Knowing Lord Shade, Arceus will have to die for him to be satisfied."

"So they went to _kill_ Arceus." Kyle ran a hand through his hair. "That sounds apocalyptic."

"Perhaps." Overlord's eyes were distant.

" _Um_?" Kyle raised his hands up and down in a manic gesture. "Killing a god? Seems like it'd have world-ending consequences?"

"We were asleep for a while, and nothing's happened." Overlord raised an eyebrow. "I checked."

"Maybe it takes a while to kill a god! I wouldn't know!" Kyle let out a breath. "Why aren't you more concerned about this? It's like you want them to succeed."

Overlord's mouth thinned.

" _Dude_!"

"Look, if Arceus is dead, then he can't choose which dimension gets to overwrite the others!" Overlord's face scrunched up. "And if he can't make that choice, then you're safe. Everything you've done for this timeline is safe. And you— You _deserve_ that!" Overlord buried his face in his palm. "You've worked so hard to change the world. No one should take that away from you."

Kyle tried to say something, but his voice fell short. Overlord's face was scrunched in pain, and his heartbeat was so furious, Kyle was worried he'd pass out. As the moments passed, though, Overlord's heartrate slowed, and he curled up into himself again. Kyle breathed.

"It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment," Kyle said. His voice was softer than he wanted it to be. "But you know me, right? You know that I'd never want someone else to die just to save my own skin."

Overlord shook his head with a weak smile. "Yeah. I know."

He rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I told you I'd fight, and then I tried to back out when it mattered most."

"The Dark Void probably didn't help," Kyle said.

"It didn't. But you were right, earlier." Overlord shrugged. "I fell in a hole again, and I ignored your branch."

Kyle half-smiled. "Hey. You're grabbing it now."

"I am." Overlord stood and took a deep, measured breath. "And I am going to do everything I can to make sure I never let go."

He flicked his wrist, and before Kyle could say anything, he was gone in a flash of green.

* * *

Overlord returned to the darkening clearing about a minute later, carrying a thick canvas bag that was nearly as big as he was.

"I went to some libraries, and back to the castle," he said, pulling an assortment of things out of the bag. Most were books or loose sheets of paper, but he also pulled out a variety of fruits and other snacks. He tossed a ham sandwich at ten-year-old Blue, who caught it at the last second and eyed it, mouth twisting. "I'm not sure how much it will help, but this is everything I could find regarding the Hall of Origin."

Kyle examined one of the books. It was an old, giant, leather-bound tome that appeared to predate the printing press. "Holy hell, they let you take this?"

"The really old ones weren't supposed to leave the library, but I don't think that matters right now," Overlord said. "I stuck a mark in the relevant sections, by the way."

"You sure did," Kevin said, opening a recent-looking periodical. A flimsy paper bookmark with the Sinnoh library system's logo stamped on it fluttered to his feet. "Let's see… 'Researchers Attempt to Find God by Biking Fast Enough to Leave the Material Plane'," he read aloud.

Chikoro snorted.

"Uh, what did you mark that for?" Kyle blinked in Overlord's direction.

"I thought we'd look into that if the flute method doesn't pan out." Overlord shrugged. "If you read it, the content isn't as ridiculous as the title implies."

"Remind us why we need our own method at all? Instead of going back a few hours and sneaking up their staircase?" Chikoro said.

Overlord shook his head. "More ageless people cut off from their timelines is not a good idea. Not to mention the number of duplicates we'd end up with. If it were just me, that'd be one thing, but…" He shot Kyle a meaningful look.

"We've got your back," Kyle said, giving him a thumbs up.

An uncomfortable cough came from Kevin's direction.

" _I've_ got your back," Kyle said, louder. "I get if some people want to back out because they don't feel like they've got a reason to fight anymore. God dying is kind of bad though. Just something to think about."

He didn't feel like seeing whatever expression was on Kevin's face right now.

"…They took Noir," Blue said. He was staring at the wrapped sandwich in his hands. "I want to help him."

Vera stared off into the trees. "I want this to end."

"I do too," Kyle said. He raised his hands above his head and clapped twice. "All right, then! Let's get to work!"

It didn't take long to get a solid plan going. Some of the books ended up being unhelpful, but others painted enough of a picture to track down what they needed: an authentic azure flute, said to have been blessed with some sort of divine power eons ago. A bug-ridden internet search later (The future kids' phones did not seem to enjoy connecting to outdated cell tower infrastructure) and they had several promising leads on locating one. Kyle was sure getting a flute through normal means would have taken an extraordinary amount of time, money, or both. However, before he could voice his concerns, Overlord disappeared in a flash, only to return two seconds later with another canvas bag full of shiny blue instruments.

"I figured I'd grab as many as I could find, just in case they're not genuine," he said, a little short of breath. "Antique stores, online sellers, whatever. Took a couple from some churches, too."

"Good to know there's nothing you can do to prevent thefts from random time travellers," Kevin muttered not-so-discreetly.

"I'll put everything back when we're done," Overlord said with a slight whine that made him sound a lot like Kevin. Kyle snickered.

"Now all we need is the song. It wasn't written down in any of the books, but almost everyone heard it, so I think we should be fine," Overlord said. He fumbled with one of the flutes and bit his lip. "Um, I have no idea how to use this."

"I think you cover the holes with your fingers, and different sounds come out?" Kyle said.

An "oh my GOD" was audible from far away, and within seconds Future-Little had come up and yanked the bag of azure flutes out of Overlord's hands. Kyle stared at him.

"No one in this family knows anything about music," he muttered under his breath. His eyes flicked up towards Kyle's, and he looked away, cheeks tinging pink. "I, um. I'll do it. I'm probably the only one here who can, so."

"You know how to play?" Kyle tried not to sound too incredulous.

"The future Shades may or may not be half social justice activism, half indie band." Future-Little's blush deepened. "I'd prefer a blessed ukulele, but I can make this work."

Kevin grinned. "Glad to hear your childhood dream came true, bud."

"I wouldn't go that far," Future-Little said, but he smiled anyway.

Kyle blinked. Kevin took one look at him and scoffed. " _Someone_ didn't actually get to know his son on Get to Know Your Son Day."

"I guess not," Kyle admitted, a twinge of guilt poking at his throat.

"Are we ready, then?" Overlord asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Kyle said. He glanced around the clearing, meeting a few sets of eyes. Kevin's were sharp and steely, Vera's, tired yet determined. He tried to catch Blue's eyes, but he was watching the sky. Kyle followed his gaze to see stars dotting the dusky, moonless horizon. Moonless. Cresselia was dead and gone, and the cosmic magic of Fullmoon Island had disappeared with her. He sucked in a breath.

"All right. Go ahead, Little."

Future-Little nodded and glanced behind him. "Catch, what was the first note, do you remember?"

Kachi hummed a couple notes of an odd, sour-sounding melody.

"Ew, yeah, I thought it was in a weird key. Okay," he mumbled. He ghosted his fingers over the holes on the flute for a moment before he started to play.

The sound was pretty, if a little tinny. Kyle frowned. "That's not right."

"Try a different one," Overlord said.

Little shrugged and fished another out of the bag. He played a test note, but it also seemed too mundane; it was old and rustic, but not in the arresting way the song had sounded before. Little went through the flutes in the bag one by one, and on the sixth try, something changed.

It was the same note. Even Kyle, with his limited musical knowledge, could tell that. But this one's sound seemed to reverberate an impressive boom throughout the clearing and send a metallic cringe up Kyle's spine in the process.

"Yeah, I'm gonna use this one," Future-Little said, making a face.

He began the song.

Now that Kyle was listening, _really_ listening, he was surprised by the melody's simplicity. There were no complicated rhythms or bizarre patterns, just several long, drawn out notes, echoing across the clearing with a horrible, haunting warble. The last note slowly faded into an uncomfortable, heavy silence.

A glowing white staircase descended from the sky and stopped in front of Little's feet.

"Well. There you go." Kyle could see Little's hands shake. "Don't know how long it's gonna stay, so you might want to…" He trailed off and stepped backward, crossing his arms.

"Thank you, Little," Kyle said.

They climbed.


End file.
